King's Nature
by MrMarauder98
Summary: Rewrite is being posted as a new story! See 'Steeling Yourself'
1. Chapter 1

**Rewrote this chapter, hope you all like it.**

 **Author's note: I found a massive MISTAKE right near the start of the first chapter! I'm honestly surprised no one called me out on it. Sometimes I wish I had a beta reader! *sigh***

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor do I profit from it.**

 **XXX**

 _What began as high winds and a smattering of rain was steadily building into one of the worst storms Kanto Region has seen in a generation. The wind wasn't just howling, it was screaming for the region to hear. The rain was pouring in a torrential waterfall, hard and merciless. The trees did not sway, they creak, bend and moan as their limbs are ripped away and their autumn leaves become nothing like confetti, but more like ammunition in the gale._

 _Residents huddling in their houses, which are meant to be warm places of shelter to wait out storms now, become vulnerable agglomerations of wood, metal and stone. There is nothing the Kanto residents can do as they wait out Zapdos's fury, knowing better than to challenge the Kanto's region God of Storms._

 _8 year old Ash Ketchum watched with wide eyes out the window as lightning split the sky open, right as thunder shook the earth. He had a funny ache in his chest as if something bad was going to happen tonight, something to do with the storm._

 _He watched as a bright yellow beam cut across town from the beach, as different colored attacks answered in return. He knew what he was watching, a Pokemon battle. He wondered who would be battling in the middle of such a fierce storm._

 _A roar of rage could be heard briefly over the high-pitched winds of the storm as more multi-colored attacks were fired towards the beach. Ash watched transfixed as multiple beams of yellow light were launched back in reply, his eyes widening as he flinched back from the light that was heading straight for him. He tripped as he stumbled backwards as he raised his arms to try and fend of the inevitable, just as the yellow light was right in front of him when-_

Ash woke with a cry, his breathing heavy and his eyes wide as he landed onto his bedroom floor. He slowly pushed himself up off the floor and sat on the edge of his bed to wait for his breathing to regulate. He glanced at the clock and found a scowl crossing his face as it was still early morning.

Ash let out a breath as he got up reluctantly to start his day, first up was exercise. He grabbed his wallet and lightly jogged towards the small florist shop on the other side of Pallet town. He brought his usual 2 flowers: Aloe which meant grief and Rosemary, which meant remembrance.

He then jogged back to his house and sat them upon the grave which rested below a large Oak tree. Ash's eyes slid over the grave marker without reading it, he knew if he read it again, he would sit there for hours staring at his mother's grave. Something today of all days he couldn't do, no matter how much he wanted to.

After his shower and putting on his clothes, he glanced at himself in the mirror, his Black shaggy hair which hung down to slightly cover his dep indigo eyes was as messy as always. He was wearing black jeans and black combat boots with an emerald green shirt with black edges. His Silver jacket was on and unzipped and his black scarf covered from his nose down to his chest.

Ash stroked his scarf lightly, wondering if he should bring it with him or not. It was the last present his mother had given him, but that went both ways. He shrugged and he watched as his reflection shrugged to.

He double checked his Storage bag, making sure everything packed and ready for his travels. He had plenty of non-perishable food and a Master-bottle, which could hold a lot more water than any normal drink bottle. He had his sleeping bag and fire starter kit. He grimaced. He knew he was just procrastinating at having to see the Oaks, both the Professor and Gary.

He shook his head, he knew he was ready. He had been preparing for his journey for 4 years now. At 10 years old, he could have left but decided not to, now he was 12 and had decided to leave. He had passed all of the necessary tests at 10, along with the survival and had obtained his Pokemon License just last month.

Ash sat at his table and ate what could be his last meal here as he looked around, trying to not let himself cry. He needed to get his mind of leaving, so he decided to think about what starter he might get. Maybe one of the powerhouse starters of Kanto would be good, Charmander, the Fire type starter, it eventually evolved into the pseudo-dragon type Charizard if treated right, Charizard and its line were all out offensive types. Squirtle, the Water type starter, it evolved into the hulking form of Blastoise, who was a good mixture of Offense and Defense. Bulbasaur, the Grass type starter, it evolved into the defensive powerhouse of Venasaur, which, when fully grown, could withstand nearly any attack.

Even if he didn't get one of the powerhouse starters, there was a few more he could get. The Nidoran lines were good starters, same with the Growlithe line. All starters were considered loyal Pokemon once their trainers had gained their trust, which was why they were perfect for beginner trainers like him.

He strolled through Pallet town at his own pace, taking in the town one last time before he left. It was a small community of trustworthy people who supported each other and always helped each other out. But no matter where you were throughout the town, you could always see the famous Oak Lab sitting at the top of the hill, just in front of Professor Oak's huge Pokemon ranch.

That was where he was heading, but it was also the place he wanted to avoid the most. After the tragedy four years ago, Professor Oak had gotten his lab rebuilt. It was a lot better than the previous one, with more protective measures and even a safety bunker. Ash always felt lingering resentment at the Professor, maybe if his previous lab had those protections, maybe his mom…maybe his mom mightn't have died.

He never let the resentment show on his face, but he had guessed Professor Oak could sense it. The pitying looks had stopped after he had blown up at a random well-wisher, who had come to pay his respects.

Just as he reached the Lab, he noticed the 3 other people standing outside the closed doors. He and Gary studiously ignored each other. Everything that had needed to be said was said 2 years ago in their massive brawl. It hadn't ended well, and it had ruined their friendship forever. But he knew it had been coming for some time, he and Gary just didn't get along.

He nodded politely towards the other 2, he didn't recognize them, but that didn't surprise him. Except for his morning runs and his treks into the surrounding wilderness to hunt, he was a shut in. He loved tracking Pokemon through the wilderness, although it was risky.

After waiting around for another 10 minutes, the doors finally opened. Both him and Gary breathed sighs of relief, and then shot each other looks. They both knew what was coming. The battle that would start their rivalry would happen in just a few minutes.

One of the composed aids waved them through, gesturing for them to walk down the hall. Ash hadn't been here since it had been rebuilt, and was taking in everything that had changed. There were bigger and more advanced machines measuring all sorts of things that he didn't recognize. One machine was incubating several different colored Pokemon eggs and another was scanning a female Nidoran.

Finally they came upon Professor Oak in all his glory: he wore a white knee length lab coat and had 6 Pokeballs strapped to his belt. His greying hair was messily combed and he was smiling at them. Ash still avoided his gaze though, looking to the side at some machines.

"Welcome, now today is a very busy day so we must get straight to it. These for Pokeballs contain your starter Pokemon. There is a fire type, water type, grass type and an electric type. Please discuss amongst yourselves who should go first and so on" Oak stated, we all turned to each other. Ash gestured for Gary to go first who gave a triumphant smirk as the other 2 shrugged. He knew Gary would've pushed to be first anyway, since it was Oaks lab.

Gary stepped forward and grabbed the water type starter. The other 2 chose the Grass and Electric starters, and just as Ash's hand was about to grab the fire type starter, running footsteps came from behind them. Ash turned around and saw another kid running towards them.

"I'm not late am I? Oh is that my Pokemon? Awesome! Thanks Professor Oak, you're awesome! Oh wow I have my first Pokemon, this is awesome!" the kid exclaimed as he grabbed the fire type starter and the Pokeball instantly locked into his fingerprint. Ash felt his eyebrow twitch as Gary started laughing.

"Don't worry Ash. I'm sure I have another around here somewhere. Now, you five listen up. I'm sure you already know this, but I will repeat myself again. The Pokemon world is a dangerous place, 50 percent of all beginner trainers die before there 3rd gym badge, from starvation, Pokemon attacks or dehydration. Even Pokemon hoarders sometimes contribute to that statistic. You have all passed the required courses and have some of the brightest minds of this new generation. I am proud to say I wish you luck on your Journey" Oak said with a blinding smile.

The other 4 all said their goodbyes and rushed out, Gary ignoring his Grandpa's calls to wait. Ash sighed, the one thing he didn't want to happen, to be alone with Professor Oak. Ash turned back around and found the Professor scrutinizing him.

"You know Ash, you'll probably be the best trainer out of this group" Oak said quietly. Ash found himself jumping in surprise. He gave the Professor a shrug and spoke quietly.

"Even Gary Professor" Ash asked, he did wonder what this conversation was going to be about. All he wanted was a starter Pokemon so he could begin his journey.

"Yes Ash, you'll be better than Gary. I may be his family, but even I am not blind to Gary's faults. I just hope he grows out of them or he may find his journey very hard indeed. Now I wish to apologise for not having the required number of starters ready, but a pair of Nidoran ran off and mated".

Ash gave a laugh at that, it would be just like them. Nidoran were mischievous Pokemon until their evolved. Ash felt his eyebrows scrunching up as thought, did that mean there wasn't a Pokemon to begin with, and a fierce scowl crossed his face, now he had to wait.

"Now don't worry Ash, I'm sure another Regions Professor might have a leftover Pokemon. If worst comes to worst, I'll give you a younger Pokemon. I'm sure you'd do fine training it". Ash couldn't help the small smile that flicked across his face, not that Oak could see it, as his mouth was hidden behind his scarf.

Even if Ash disliked Professor Oak somewhat, nobody could discount that the Professor was an amazing Pokemon Trainer. Being complimented by someone like that was sure boosting his ego.

The Professor gestured for him to follow as he led Ash over to the huge computer and its screen. Oak typed for a few minutes before a ringing sound came from the Computer before Oak answered the call.

4 faces appeared on the screen, and Ash recognized all of them. It was the other regions premier Professor's. Ash was stunned for a moment. Professor Oak had some serious contacts.

"Greetings to my fellow Professor's, I'm sorry about calling so late or early respectively, but I have come across a problem. I had a trainer come in late today, and due to some unforeseen circumstances involving Nidoran running off, a trainer who was here early didn't get a starter Pokemon. I was calling to see if any of you had a starter you hadn't given out to give him. This here is Ash Ketchum" Oak said.

Ash winced at the mention of his name, but pulled down his scarf and gave the professors a small smile. It wouldn't be a good idea to get on any of these peoples shit list, especially as he might travel to their regions.

"Hello" Ash said quietly. All of the Professors were watching him before a cry and Professor Birch disappeared from the screen. A Ralts head popped up and the entire group of Professor's gasped.

 _"Shiny"_ whispered Professor Juniper. The Ralts, which Ash now knew to be a shiny Pokemon waved and Ash couldn't help it, he burst out laughing and waved back. 'Ralts' chirped the Ralts to the group.

Professor Birch came back and let Ralts sit on his lap.

 _"I'm Sorry Samuel, but I'm all out for this season. Unless the boy wants a Bidoof, there is always plenty of those around"_ laughed Professor Rowan as Professor Oak shook his head and whispered to Ash.

"It's basically a Rattata" Ash shuddered, Rattata were pest Pokemon and most trainers wished they didn't exist, you couldn't even eat them. Professor Juniper spoke up next.

 _"I also apologize, I also have none left. I had a good batch of trainers this year and I know they'll do me proud"_. Then Professor Elm spoke up with a grim expression.

 _"I did have one starter left over, it was also one of the powerhouses of Johto, but it was stolen early last night. We still haven't caught the culprit, but I have some of my best on his tracks. I'm sorry Ash"_. Ash just nodded, it seems his streak of bad luck was continuing.

Professor Birch was the only one who hadn't spoken yet, but he had a thoughtful look on his face. All of the Professors were now staring at him along with Ash.

 _"I also don't have any starters left. All 4 were given and received quite happily. I'm also sorry Ash but I do have a question for Samuel here"_ Ash's shoulders slumped at the response. 'Ralts' Ralts chirped once again drawing a small smile from Ash.

 _"How would you rate young Ash there in potential"_ Asked Professor Birch. Ash shot his head up to stare at the Professor as Professor Oak gave a thoughtful hum. Ash found himself praying to any Pokemon God that would listen to let him get a Pokemon.

"Quite high, a potential 10, but at the moment, a 5" Spoke Oak, Professor Birch just gave a thoughtful hum. Then spoke to Ash directly.

 _"Ash, how would you like to take Ralt's here as your starter Pokemon"_ Ash jumped at the chance, he nodded his head rapidly. He didn't mind receiving a non-starter. He could work with nearly any Pokemon except Gyarados or magikarp.

 _"Now, you all know this Ralt's is quite special already, it having the genetic quirk that made it a shiny Pokemon. What you don't know is this Ralts came from a very special Gardevoir. I have been doing numerous studies into a Pokemon's habitats and how it affects the Pokemon themselves. In all my years of study, I have only come across it twice, I call it 'King's Nature'"_ said Professor Birch. He was quite serious and all the other Professors were mirroring him. Ash just found himself confused but he was paying attention anyway, this might become important later on.

 _"A Pokemon has the same exact chance to gain this 'King's nature' as they do to become a shiny. 1 in 8192, and yet I've only seen it twice. If we could actually study this new gene, it could mean numerous breakthroughs for Pokemon research. Each Pokemon species all have this gene, as they all become the same color if there shiny. King's nature as two aspects and a Pokemon may receive either one, or the other. There has been a folk tale of a Pokemon having both aspects but ill digress and continue to explain"_ They all waited as Professor Birch had a drink that was levitated by Ralts to him and he thanked the Ralts by stroking its hair.

 _"The two aspects of 'King's Nature' are called Power and mind. It is quite obvious but I'll still explain it. A pokemon with the power aspect would have a body that is double the size of any other Pokemon of that species, imagine a 40 foot long Gyarados or a 12 foot tall Aggron. They would be unstoppable; they would be near literal forces of nature. Pokemon with the Mind aspect of 'King's nature' gain an increase over their inner abilities. Imagine a Charizard that has had its inner flame size doubled or even tripled. Once again, it would be nearly unstoppable"_ Ash's eyes had become glazed over as he thought about an unstoppable Charizard; it would be every Pokemon trainers dream. The Professors were the same; the potential of this pokemon was amazing. Birch continued on, drawing everyone's attention.

 _"This Ralts here is the son of such a Pokemon, a Gardevoir who had the mind aspect. Gardevoir was hunted to the end of the earth and excluding itself, this Ralts is the strongest Psychic type we have ever recorded for its age excluding some legendary's. It has inherited some or most of its mother's power. I want Ash to take it on a Journey"_. Ash didn't waste his chance.

"I accept. I would love to have Ralt's along. I'm sure we will become great partners" Ash smiled as Ralts chirped its name once again.

 _"Good, Samuel, I'll send it over through the PC system. I wish you luck Ash"_ and the call cut out, all the other Professors said their goodbyes distractedly, deep in thought. Only 3 minutes of waiting and Ash was holding a Great ball in his hand, inside his starter Pokemon.

"Ash, before you leave. Here are 5 Pokeballs and a Pokedex, I was going to give it to Gary but he ran off, I'll send him another after I've prepared it. You have your trainer ID and your bank account. I think you're ready, just remember your training and don't lose your head. Take good care of Ralts, it's a very special Pokemon" Said Professor Oak sincerely.

Ash swallowed, Professor Oak, even after everything Ash had screamed at him years before was still so caring. He had been like a Grandpa once, and right now, Ash felt like he was 8 years old again playing with Growlithe pups as Professor Oak watched over him because his Mom was working.

Ash nodded and turned around and walked out of the lab. It was time to start his journey. Watch out Kanto, he was coming.

XXX

An hour of walking towards Viridian and Ash decided it was time to meet his starter properly. Ash pressed the release button on the Great ball ignoring the other functions for a moment. A brief flash of red and there Ralts stood.

"Hi Ralts" Ash spoke softly as Ralts looked around taking in their surroundings. They were standing just at the edge of the path. They could clearly see a river in the distance along with a small run down cottage situated next to it.

Ash decided this was a prime opportunity to become more acquainted with his starter. The best way to do that was to share everything about himself to Ralts. Hopefully this would start the bond of friendship between them.

"Let's talk" Ash spent the next 30 minutes talking to Ralts about his life and what his future goals were. What Pokemon he might want to catch and his ideas about training. Eventually Ash decided to scan Ralts with his newly acquired Pokedex.

 _"Ralts" spoke a female voice "The Feeling Pokemon, Ralts is a humanoid Pokemon with a white body. It had thin arms and legs that widen towards the feet. There is a wispy extension trailing off the back of its feet, creating the overall impression that it is wearing an oversized dress. It uses its 2 horns to sense emotion of the Pokemon and people around it. Ralts are a dual type of Psychic and Fairy type. This Ralts has the Ability Trace. This Ralts has the move set of Growl, Confusion, Double team and Teleport. It knows the move Shadow Sneak, which is its egg move. This Ralts is male and shiny, recording Shiny data"._

Ash gave a thoughtful hum as Ralts poked the Pokedex in his hand, Shadow sneak was a dark type move, and it was rare that a Psychic type would have it as an egg move. It must have had a dark type or Ghost type as its father.

Well the first thing they had to do was train. To work on the moves Ralts knows and start learning new moves. Ash checked his Pokedex and came up with a list of moves Ralts needed to learn before the first gym. Thankfully it was a small list consisting of Magical leaf, Heal pulse and Draining Kiss. All 3 moves would become helpful, Draining Kiss to keep Ralts going, Heal Pulse for any future teammates they may get and Magical Leaf as an attacking move that wasn't a Psychic move. His Pokedex had plenty of training methods to train a Psychic type and ash knew he would be using at least some of them.

After 3 hours of hard training, Ash decided it was time for a rest. Ralts teleported onto Ash's shoulders and fell asleep quickly. Ash found himself feeling the best he had in years, he knew why of course. He was finally free of the town where every glance around reminded him of his mother's death and now he had a proper friend.

The walk to Viridian from Pallet town was usually 2 days if there were no interruptions. Ash and Ralts got there after 3 days, because of all the extra training they did. They didn't battle any wild Pokemon, and there were no trainers, they just worked on Ralts move set and learning new moves while Ash did small exercises to keep fit.

Ralt's Confusion attack was gaining strength with each training session, as Ralts would use it to lift heavier and heavier objects. Growl and Teleport didn't need any training, as they were simple moves. Double team had been improved. Ralts had gone from making only a single copy of him to making 4 copies.

Viridian was triple the size of Pallet town. It had a Hotel and a few restaurants and an extra-large Pokemon center. It was where all the new trainers would start of that year's season, including Ash. It was also the city that sheltered the Indigo league starting position. The top 8 trainers of that year's battle conference would start from Viridian and make their way to the Elite four, through Victory Road. Victory road was hell on earth, only the strongest would make it through, sometimes some trainers never even made it out.

While preparing for his journey, Ash had never considered he wouldn't be starting off with a Kanto starter. Now each night before he went to sleep, he went over other regions Pokemon on his Pokedex with Ralts staring over his shoulder. If he wanted to fulfil his dream, he needed to be able to identify different Pokemon by sight alone and come up with battle strategies on the spot.

The Pokedex was a miniature phone like device. It was about the size of a book. It had several controls on the inside after you flipped it open. It had a 3 inch by 6 inch screen that was touch-controlled. The front of the device had the Pokemon scanner on it, which tripled as a camera and video phone.

Both Ash and Ralts like reading up on the Ralts evolution line. Ash researched what signs to look for when a Ralts was starting to evolve into a Kirlia, and since Ralts was male, how to evolve him into a Gallade if Ralts made that choice. Both Gardevoir and Gallade were excellent Pokemon, though Gallade were rare because of how rare the stone needed to evolve them was. Ralts had remained undecided if it wanted to become a Gallade or a Gardevoir.

As they walked in to the Pokemon center, Ash couldn't help but look around excitedly. The interior was mainly white with red walls and other small splashes of color. Nurse Joy, a pretty pink haired lady was behind the front counter with her Chansey.

"Hi, welcome to Viridian City's Pokemon center. How may I help you today" asked Nurse Joy to Ash. Ash didn't want to stay in the city. He just wanted to get a move on. So he only handed over Ralts Pokeball to get him checked up and healed.

Pokemon centers not only acted as Pokemon hospitals, but also as free hotels for trainers. The rooms were bare and not very fancy, but anything felt good after weeks of travel and sleeping on the hard ground. Of course, this was only if you could prove you were a league registered trainer. All you needed was some form of Identification, like League ID or a Pokedex.

While waiting for Ralts to be checked, he signed up for this year's Indigo Battle Conference. He had to log on with his League ID and pay a small fine to enter. This would allow him to enter this year's IBC (Indigo Battle Conference) if he got the required number of badges. It would also allow him to enter any League sponsored tournament he found when travelling.

After having a quick shower in a spare room, he grabbed a fully replenished Ralts and headed off towards Viridian Forest. The first test for beginner trainers, Viridian Forest was a week's walk to the other side and filled with numerous Pokemon, which were mainly bug type Pokemon. The only bug type he had any interest in catching was Scyther, which wasn't native to this part of Kanto.

It was only hours walk to the forest just as it started getting dark. Ash decided it would be better to camp outside the forest as much as possible due to Ralts not being very strong against Bug types. The week long journey was only if you didn't get lost, which most trainers did. It was a maze of trees, high grass and bug types. Since there were so many bug types, it was a feasting ground for flying types. It was also good for trainers who liked to hunt like Ash, if you could get hold of rare Pokemon parts legally, you could sell them to the Market guild in each town. You needed Photo proof to sell any items you gain, and if you didn't have photo proof, you were instantly arrested and fined.

That first night sleeping next to the forest was nerve wracking. Ash wasn't even in the forest yet, and he could already feel numerous eyes watching him. The next day dawned and Ash and Ralts started off early. They had taken 13 steps into the forest when they were challenged to a battle.

"Hey Trainer, lets battle!" shouted a youngster. Youngsters were a class of kids under 10 who were Pokemon experts, but were only allowed 2 Pokemon. Ash had nearly decided to become a Youngster, but you needed to pay a lot of money to become one, not only that but they had severe restrictions until they reached the proper journey age.

"Fine" Ash replied. He had spent many nights crafting his battle persona. He was cold, closed off and didn't talk much. It was to ward of any people who wanted to talk to him. He was briefly well known around the region after his mother had died, it had been all over the news. It grated on him, but he knew he couldn't do anything about it.

Ralts teleported down in front of him as the Youngster sent out a Rattata. Ash couldn't help snorting quietly, Rattata were a pest and a weak one at that, its evolution were stronger, but just as easy to deal with as long as you could out maneuver it and it didn't get its jaws on your Pokemon.

"Rattata, quick attack" called out the Youngster. Ash responded with Teleport and the battle was on. Unfortunately, as their first battle, it was very underwhelming. A Confusion that slammed the Rattata brutally into a tree ended the battle. The Rattata was heavily injured; the Youngster quickly paid his money and ran towards Viridian. Ash just sighed. He wanted a tougher opponent for his first battle.

XXX

It was the second night of staying in the forest and they had only encountered a few brave Pidgey that weren't Bug type Pokemon and looking for a battle. They had been chased off pretty easy due to their smash-into-the-ground tactic Ralts was starting to favour. They tried to stay away from Area's that may contain an excess of Bug type Pokemon.

It was nearly time to head to sleep when a loud squawk echoed throughout the forest. Anyone who had ever heard a Pidgeys cry would know instantly that the Squawk had originated from one of Pidgeys evolutionary line.

A quick Word to Ralts and he was running through the forest with Ralts tucked into his Pokeball. Ash was basically running blind; relying on his hearing more than anything else from the squawking was coming from. Finally after what felt like 10 minutes of sprinting Ash finally arrived at the edge of a clearing. Loud buzzing was coming from one end which contained 3 enraged Beedrill, who were protecting 2 small weedle, both who were slightly injured.

At the other end of the clearing was a big Pidgeotto, protecting 3 young Pidgey that had tried hunting on their own, and had partially succeeded due to the dead Weedle they were picking at.

The Pidgeotto fired off a Gust attack which all 3 Beedrill dodged before returning fire with a Twineedle attack. 2 of the Beedrill carried the Weedle back into the safety of the forest, while the 3 baby Pidgey flew off.

Ash watched as the 2 Pokemon traded attacks, but it was clear the Pidgeotto was winning, until Ash watched it get poisoned by a poison sting attack. The Beedrill fell to ground dead due to a brutal peck attack that obliterated its small head, but the Pidgeotto landed heavily as well.

Ash knew he couldn't leave it here to die helpless and crept forward quietly while taking out an Antidote.

Ash sprayed the Antidote on the injured bird Pokemon just as it swung its head around and stared at him. Ash was stared at for what felt like weeks and until the bird gently nudged him with its beak as a thank you and flew off shakily.

Ash knew he would be dreaming of this amazing experience. Usually Pidgeotto were very territorial and didn't let anyone get close to them. This Pidgeotto was different. Ash berated himself for not catching it while he had the chance. All he was thinking about was helping it, pretty stupid of himself that was sure.

Ash didn't mind though, battling may be becoming his new passion, but Pokemon themselves would always be hold his spirit.

The next morning was filled with more battling, but against other trainers who seemed to be in larger groups the further you went in, travelling in clusters and challenging other groups. Ash thought this was a prime opportunity.

Ash was standing in the middle of a clearing, which also held a few other people, all who were Pokemon battling.

"Ralts, use disarming voice, then confusion" Ash said, Ralt's target was a Sandshrew. The Sandshrew fired several Poison sting attacks from its mouth that forced Ralts to teleport to dodge them. Luckily teleport used nearly next to no energy when teleporting small distances, like around inside the clearing.

Ash watched as Ralts used disarming voice on the Sandshrew, it did some good damage. It also caused the ground type Pokemon to curl up into a ball, which made it a perfect target for Confusion. Ralts than used Confusion to bounce the Sandshrew off the ground until it fainted, Ash smiled, not that anyone could see it, but he was sure Ralts picked up on his emotions. He was really starting to love battling.

Ash found himself immediately challenged to another battle, which he accepted, the more battles the stronger Ralts would get. This battle was against a trainer with a Beedrill, which was a bit harder but they won.

The next week and a half was filled with intense training, numerous battles, both easy and hard and running away from swarms of Beedrill. The forest was filled with this year's new trainers, all trying to get to Pewter city. Ash could barely walk 20 steps without getting challenged by another trainer. The forest was also filled with a lot of Bug type trainers, all of which Ash and Ralts had trouble against, but they prevailed and hadn't lost a single battle.

Running away from Beedrill swarms was a totally different matter. The stupid Beedrill kept thinking Ralts blue hair was an Oran Berry and so when it started moving away from them, they would chase it thinking something was stealing their food. Eventually, Ash had to start moving around with Ralts in his Pokeball, as they got into the deeper parts of the forest.

As they finally exited the forest, Ash was startled when a sword was shoved in front of him. Ash flinched back to protect himself as Ralts popped out of its Pokeball. A blue sheen of Psychic power covered the sword and flung it away. A different yelp was heard this time as a young kid dressed in plastic Samurai armor was being hung by his foot from Ralts confusion.

"Did you want to injure me you stupid kid, do you know how dangerous that sword is, it could have really freaking hurt me" Ash snarled at him. The kid looked close to tears as he tried to blubber out some story of 'testing him'.

"Ralts, drop him. We'll decimate him in a Pokemon battle". The kid landed on his back and shoulders, but he was up instantly, an angry look on his face. The kid threw a Pokeball that bounced and released a Pinsir.

Ash aimed his Pokedex at it, "Pinsir, the Stag Beetle Pokemon – It grips its prey with its large pincers until it is torn in half. What it can't tear it will toss far". Pinsir looked exactly what it sounded like, an ugly overly large beetle with 2 huge pincers, or a big ugly bug that Ralts was going to crush. The Pinsir screeched it battle cry and rushed towards Ralts.

"Go Pinsir! Use Tackle, if it dodges, chase after it and Tackle it" the kid commanded. Ash frowned at the simple commands. The Samurai kid looked a little younger than him and should've been able to make better use of his Pokemon, especially one that looked as bloodthirsty as it sounded.

Pinsir was closing in when Ralts made its move, Ash didn't even bother to help. He knew Ralts had this easily. Just as Pinsir was about to grab it, Ralts used teleport and appeared instantly behind it, Ralts than used confusion to basically shove the Pinsir forward straight into a tree.

The Pinsir was up instantly, but it seemed confused, Perfect, Ralts teleported again and used Magical Leaf. It wasn't very effective against a Bug type Pokemon, and Ash didn't expect it to knock out the Pinsir but it did. That Pokemon seriously must have been weak.

Ash didn't even both collecting his money, he just walked away. Ralts teleported straight onto his backup and started meditating, something Ralts seemed to do as much as possible.

XXX

Ash breathed a huge sigh of relief at finally being out of that damn forest. The battling inside the forest was amazing, but it had cost him almost all his supplies to keep Ralts and himself healthy and fed. Ash hadn't found another Pokemon for his team, and which was slightly disappointing but nothing inside there had screamed to him 'Catch me'.

But they had finally made it, Pewter city. Ash could already see the Pokemon Centre from where he was standing, a quick murmur to Ralts and they were teleported directly in front of it.

Ash walked in and smiled, not that anyone could see it. Air conditioning was heaven, especially after the humidity from inside the forest. After having Ralts healed and getting in a quick shower, it was time for them to head to the gym.

The Gym building was a massive grey building made out of stone, it was double storied with a tiled roof. The word Gym was hanging from the front of the building in huge letters. As Ash walked inside, with Ralts on his shoulders, he noticed the inside was nearly identical with the outside. Everything was made of stone, except the comfy looking chairs in the stands. The middle of the Gym was dominated by a huge battling arena.

The battling arena was dirt floored, and had a lot of rocks littering it. A Geodude was using its strong arms to hurl these rocks at a blue Pokemon, a Squirtle. The Squirtle would respond by using a Water gun attack to blast the rocks before they could hit it.

Ash looked to both sides and finally noticed Gary, who was standing on the field battling the Gym leader. Ash ducked up around Gary through the stands and sat directly behind him high up. Hopefully Gary wouldn't notice him here.

The Geodude was knocked unconscious before long, and the Squirtle stayed out as the Gym leader threw out another Pokeball. The pokemon was a Pokemon Ash had never seen outside of the TV. Even Professor Oak had admitted finding a Larvitar was exceptionally hard. Ash had to smile at the look on Gary's face before it faded and turned into a grimace, he was probably going to have to face the Larvitar as well.

Ash had a bad feeling he was going to need another Pokemon. He knew Ralts would be able to take on both a Geodude and Brocks signature Pokemon; an Onix, most likely anyway. But with a third Pokemon thrown in, and a Larvitar at that, Ralts would need help.

Ash snuck out, just as Squirtle fainted. He headed towards the Pokemart, to stock up on supplies. It was time to head out. He decided to go to Mt Moon; hopefully there he could find a partner for Ralts.

Of course, any trainer that watched the news knew why Gym leaders suddenly used stronger Pokemon. 2 years ago, when Ash was 10, the Indigo League changed their Guidelines about Gym battling. The first change was that Gym leaders had to start being harsher on any trainer that had come to battle them. Gym badges were achievements that every trainer should strive to win. Not just walk up with a plan and a type advantage and win.

Gym leaders now had to fight with a minimum of 3 Pokemon, and that had to include a single Pokemon from another region to diversify their team. They also had to have multiple teams that could battle at different levels, from beginner trainers to a trainer looking for their eighth gym badge.

The league also shut down any of the smaller Gyms that also handed out the same Gym badge as a main gym. To qualify for the IBC, you needed to have to 8 main gym badges and nothing less.

Looking back at it now, Ash could see why they changed it. Weaker and weaker trainers were participating in the IBC each year, then complained when they were smashed by the trainers and veterans that seriously trained and earned their place. The 2 years since the change had the lowest number of contestants in 30 years in the IBC, but it was filled with battles that made your heart stop and the adrenaline run. Criticisers immediately stopped, as everyone loved the new changes that brought on these intense battles.

It also made his journey a real challenge, which he was going to embrace with both hands.

XXX

The Path to Mt Moon was filled with Trainers, some who had won against Brock and some that were training to battle him and win. Ash had decided beforehand to take a side route and dodge most of them. If he caught a Pokemon in Mt Moon, he'll battle them with it on the way back. He wasn't sure what Pokemon he wanted, but he'd probably get a grass, water or fighting type.

Ash did battle a few trainers that were taking the side routes, but he couldn't complain. According to his Pokedex, Ralts was starting to show some evolution signs, longer hair and growing slightly taller along with a small control increase. He knew the Ralts line evolved fairly quickly, but he didn't know it would be this fast.

When they finally entered the cave, Ash had expected it to be dark and damp and he was exactly right. Luckily he had Ralts, who could help him navigate and a torch. As soon as he saw a side path, Ash took it. He knew he wouldn't find a good Pokemon on the main path. It had been in use for many years now, all Pokemon that weren't specifically searching for a trainer would avoid it.

"Ralts, you okay?" Ash had to ask his Pokemon, as soon as they had entered this cave. Ralts had been releasing small huffs of air in annoyance. Ralts just shook its head and patted his head which made Ash smile. But he was worrying, what could be annoying Ralts like this, maybe something was interfering with its Psychic powers? Ash didn't know but he was on guard.

After an hour of walking down different side paths and battling Zubat and Geodude was when Ralts gave a big cry of annoyance and popped away. Ash was startled for a second, but he couldn't help that a small laugh escaped his mouth.

Ralts was as much a stone face as Ash himself was. The way Ralts expressed its emotions was through its body language, just like Ash. The fact Ralts had gotten so annoyed to pop away after crying out in annoyance, something must have been niggling at him this whole time.

After about 30 seconds of waiting, Ralts finally popped back in with another Pokemon. Ash instantly knew he wanted it. The Pokemon, as soon as teleport was finished, immediately attacked Ralts by using Rapid spin to throw Ralts off. That was one problem with the Ralts line and teleport, they needed to touch what they were teleporting, unlike the Abra line, which could teleport by area instead.

Ralts was flung away, but teleported mid-air to return to standing on its feet. Ralts instantaneously fired a Magical Leaf attack at the Pokemon, who continued using Rapid spin to spin away from the attack but was still hit. The Pokemon returned fire with a Psybeam that Ralts stopped with Confusion by throwing a small Boulder into the attack, destabilizing it.

Ash, while this was going on was trying to get his Pokedex out of his bag and was cursing towards himself for packing it first last night, as it was now on the bottom. Finally grabbing it and turned it towards the ongoing battle, the screen lit up.

 _"Baltoy, the clay doll Pokemon, it is native to the Hoenn region and is a Psychic and Ground dual typing. Baltoy is a small Pokemon that resembles a tan figurine made out of clay or mud with red markings. A Spike protrudes from the top of its head and another small spike protrudes from under its body. Old wall paintings depict it living with people in ancient times. Baltoy move set: Confusion, Harden, Rapid Spin, Mudslap, Rock Tomb and Psybeam. Its ability is Levitate. It can also evolve into the form Claydol"_ Spoke Ash's Pokedex.

The battle had slowed considerably as both Pokemon listened in, but as soon as the Pokedex finished talking, Ralts flung another Magical Leaf attack at Baltoy, who was hit dead on. Ash knew that it was super effective attack and flung a Pokeball.

A flash of red light lit up the small room as Ralts gave Ash an annoyed look. Ash watched as the Pokeball shook once, than twice before splitting open and spitting Baltoy back out. Baltoy didn't waste any time, it used Rock tomb giving itself some cover, then used Mud slap at Ralts, Ralts teleported away from the attack and appeared behind the Baltoy using confusion to throw another small Boulder at the Pokemon. Baltoy was knocked away from its cover and Ash took his chance. He tossed another Pokeball.

Once again, Ash and Ralts watched as the Pokeball shook. Once, twice, three times before clicking shut. Ash pumped his fist as he ignored the look Ralts was giving him, he had figured out that the Baltoy must have been giving out a Psychic signal that was annoying Ralts in some way.

Ash picked up the Pokeball and clipped it to his belt after administering a potion to it. It would slowly heal Baltoy while it was inside, and hopefully if all things went well, it would decide to join them.

Ash decided that since they had a Pokemon to head back to the Pokemon center right outside the cave entrance. It was quick walk, as they had already cleared the path of Pokemon on the way there. It was unlucky that being underground scrambled a Psychics position so they couldn't teleport from inside a cave to outside.

As soon as Nurse Joy handed him Baltoy back, he was outside and heading straight down a side path for some privacy. He found a tiny clearing, just big enough to hold a battle, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that between them and Baltoy.

Ash crouched down with Ralts beside him as he released Baltoy. Baltoy didn't react except for looking around with its squinted eyes. Ash figured it wasn't used to the sunlight because it had lived in a cave.

"Hello Baltoy, I'm Ash and this is Ralts. We caught you, do you know what that means" Ash asked, Baltoy nodded. Ash was relieved; catching a Pokemon that didn't know what that meant was hell on some trainers. They always tried escaping and going back to where they lived.

"Good, I'm a new trainer and I'm looking for Pokemon to join my team. Would you like to join us? You've proven to be pretty strong, we need some help to beat a Gym leader, could you help us" Ash asked. He once again received a simple nod and Ash let a smile flicker across his face.

Success felt good.

"Good, let's start your training, it's going to be tough, but I know you'll overcome it easy" Ash said.

They trained all day in that small clearing until neither Ralts nor Baltoy could move. Baltoy, like most ground types had endurance in spades and outlasted Ralts, though not by much. Ash had trained Ralts for long battles, as he knew some would be.

Baltoy was a welcome addition to the team and his moveset could become very versatile. After reading up on Baltoy and its evolved form of Claydol, Ash had already had some amazing ideas. But first, training for the Gym was required.

XXX

A week and a half later, Ash stood outside the Gym with both his Pokemon inside their Pokeballs. Both had improved in leaps and bounds as they fought other trainers and trained every day.

Ralts was on the cusp on evolution, and Ash was hoping it would evolve during his battle with Brock. Ralts had learnt 2 new moves, both helpful, Draining kiss and Reflect. Ralts had also started learning how to use Shadow sneak, which still only worked a third of the time.

Draining kiss was a move that stole energy from another Pokemon and gave most of that energy to Ralts. There was 2 versions of the move, one of which Ralts hated. The first version was the one hated and it was a direct kiss onto the opposing Pokemon and stole loads of energy until the contact was broken. The second version was a long range version, a pink beam of energy that sucked the energy out slowly, but if the beam was broken, the move stopped.

Reflect was a move that Ralts had learned from another trainer that had an Espeon. It stopped 5 physical attacks, or that's what it was supposed to do. Ash and Ralts had found that it was a very finicky move, but depended a lot on the amount of Psychic energy fed into the barrier. The more Psychic energy fed into it, the stronger it was.

Shadow sneak was just a hard move to learn for the Ralts line. It was a Dark type move, which was super effective against Psychic types. When Ralts used it right, he could sink into shadows and appear in the opposing Pokemon Shadow to attack them from behind. Ralts could also stay in a shadow for a short amount of time, but with each successful use of the move, that time increased.

Baltoy had also worked very hard. Ash had found out Baltoy was naturally a hard worker and loved to play pranks on Ralts, which made Ralts mad. Ash couldn't help bursting out with laughter when he woke one morning to see Baltoy fling Ralts into a small pond. Ralts teleported out and they had a fierce battle against each other.

Baltoy had also learnt 2 new moves, Ancient power and Protect. Ancient power was a move that dug up great clumps of earth and hurled them. Its power could vary in a number of various ways; how much energy the Pokemon put into the attack, what ground the Pokemon was standing on and so on.

Protect was a move that produced a green barrier of energy. Baltoy was surprisingly good with using it. They had even come up with an idea to use it as a weapon, but that was in its infant stage still.

Ash took a deep calming breath and walked through the doors. His battle was scheduled at 11am and he was 10 minutes early. After signing in and being directed to a waiting room, he released both his Pokemon, who stared up at him. They were as excited as he was.

"Okay guys, this is it, our first big challenge. As you already know, we're facing Brock, who is a Rock type specialist. His favorite Pokemon is Onix, who he used in all his battles. He has 3 teams for tier one battles, which is us, since we're going for our first badge. All his teams have a Geodude first, and an Onix either second or last" Ash spoke. After taking a breath and a swig from his water bottle, he continued talking, going over Brock once again.

"It's his third Pokemon we have to watch out for. He changes it around. He has an Aron, Larvitar and a Cranidos. All strong Pokemon that we need to watch out for, Cranidos would be easiest to take out, as it's just a single type, which is Rock. It's the Aron and Larvitar we need to watch out for." Both his Pokemon nodded, he had been preparing them for this battle for a whole week, after plentiful amounts of research of course, thanks to his Pokedex, he was lucky Gary hadn't taken it, but Professor Oak probably sent one along.

 _"Ash Ketchum, please head onto the field"_ Said a voice from a speaker. Ash allowed 3 deep breaths before returning his Pokemon and standing up. He made sure his scarf was covering the lower half of his face before walking out.

It was time to battle. As he walked out, he could feel his heart starting to beat faster and he felt that calm state wash over him. He was ready, his Pokemon were ready. All he could do now was direct them in battle when he could and hoped they won.

As soon as reached the field, he looked around. He was standing exactly where Gary was 2 weeks before. Ash looked over at Brock and studied him. Brock was a tall guy, with tanned skin and freaky eyebrows. He was as stone faced as his Rock type Pokemon. The referee started speaking, Ash listened in. It might contain information he hadn't known, but he doubted it. He had gone over the rules extensively for the first 2 gyms.

"This is a first tier battle. The challenger is allowed 1 switch and no potions, the gym leader, no switches and no potions. The Gym and therefore the Indigo league are not responsible for any death or injury that happens. Release your first Pokemon. It will be a 3 vs 3 battle".

As expected, Brock released a Geodude. It was like all the other Geodude they had battled inside Mt Moon, but Ash expected it to have had a few TM's used on it. Ash released Baltoy, and gave a smirk no one could see at Brocks raised eyebrow. He loved his scarf.

"Begin" shouted the referee. Immediately Brock's Geodude used Rock throw by hurling a Boulder at Baltoy. Baltoy used confusion and flung it right back. It slammed into the Geodudes crossed arms, which signified it had used Harden.

"Baltoy, use Ancient Power" called out Ash as quietly as possible, just loud enough so Baltoy would hear him. 3 huge chunks of earth were ripped out of the ground and flung at the stationary Geodude. The first chunk of earth hit and slammed the Geodude backwards, but it only did a small amount of damage. The other 2 chunks missed due to the Geodude rolling out of the way. Once again, Brock commanded the Geodude to use Rock throw and once again it was flung back at it.

Ash watched as Brock then decided to switch strategies, commanding Geodude to rush in and use tackle, but Geodude started using Rollout, it was obviously gaining momentum for the tackle. If it hit, Baltoy would either faint or be extremely close to fainting.

Ash waited until Geodude was about to hit Baltoy before shouting, Baltoy instantaneously reacted and used Confusion to pick up Geodude and fling it into a wall. Its momentum plus the momentum from the Confusion attack would seriously hurt it and hopefully confuse it. Geodude pushed itself out of the hole in the wall and landed heavily back onto the ground, now was his chance.

"Baltoy, another Ancient Power, version 2" called out Ash. Version 1 was flinging smaller multiple chunks of earth like Baltoy had previously. Version 2 was flinging one huge chunk; hopefully this would make Geodude faint.

"Baltoy" said Baltoy with a grunt as it flung the huge chunk of earth at the Geodude, but it didn't have time to hit as a red light of a Pokeball flashed across the field and hit Geodude, who disappeared. Brock was now looking at him with a small smile, Ash hoped because he was a real challenge.

"Go Larvitar" Called out Brock. Ash cursed silently as the small green Pokemon appeared on the field. Ash considered his options, would it be better to switch now to Ralts or try and defeat it with Baltoy, who was looking a little drained but had taken no damage yet. Ash didn't get a chance to decide before Larvitar was bounding across the field straight at Baltoy.

"Same plan Baltoy" Ash called out. He eventually decided on doing both, Baltoy would weaken the Larvitar as much as possible before it was switched out. Ralts could take care of the rest. Ash winced, as did everyone in the crowd when the Sandstorm started, luckily Baltoy was a ground type and wouldn't be affected, but now Ash couldn't see.

A few seconds of silence happened before a grunt of pain echoed out from the field, a second later, Larvitar was flung out of the sandstorm and into the same wall Geodude had been thrown at. Larvitar was able to brace itself in time though as another Ancient power smashed into it. Larvitar then charged straight back into the Sandstorm.

Another period of silence before the Sandstorm slowly died down and cleared. Ash smiled proudly at the sight of Larvitar, who looked injured enough that Ralts would have no problem taking it down in a single hit or 2. He recalled the fainted Baltoy, he could still see the dark energies of bite around Larvitar's mouth, which was super effective against Baltoy, one or 2 bites would of been enough. The crowd that wanted Brock to win was cheering loudly at Baltoy's defeat.

"Go Ralts" Ash called out as he threw the Great ball. Ralts appeared and instantly teleported straight behind Larvitar. The crowd was silenced at what happened next. Ralts used confusion and swung Larvitar around in a circle before hurling him straight at a different wall. He connected with a loud crunch sound as Pokemon and concrete met.

Larvitar fainted and was recalled. Now Brock was scowling slightly at him as the crowd went dead silent. Ash found himself falling in love with Psychic types, they were so awesome. Brock released the Pokemon Ash had been waiting for, Onix.

When Onix fully materialized, he gave a loud roar of greeting, ready for battle. Ash smirked. Ralts would bring it down easily enough. Ash wouldn't even need to help, Ralts knew the plan.

Onix launched a Rock throw that Ralts dodged by sliding slightly to the side. Ralts than used confusion to pick up the rock and sling it back, straight at Onix's head, it didn't connect as Onix bent out of the way.

Onix then rushed Ralts, who was waiting with a Magical Leaf attack. The Psychic leaves smashed into Onix and caused it give a bellow of pain. It rushed Ralts, who teleported away as soon as it got close. This game continued until Onix fainted, and Ralts burst into white light.

Ash watched with wide eyes as his first Pokemon evolved, he wasn't able to look into the light, and it was too bright. But as the light dimmed, he took in Ral- Kirlia's new form. Kirlia was a little taller and had longer hair. You could now see his legs and he looked like a complete girl. Ash snickered quietly; Kirlia would be so much fun to tease.

"Winner, Ash Ketchum of Pallet town, I will be the first to congratulate you on the evolution". Ash nodded once, as his attention was brought to Brock who was walking towards him.

"Here is the Boulder badge, you've earned it. I can tell you'll become a powerful trainer someday. I would also like to give you a TM for Sandstorm. It's a 3 time use TM, so use it wisely. I'll keep an eye on your progress, good luck" Spoke Brock before walking away. Ash realized he still might be a little upset at Kirlia's treatment of Larvitar.

Ash just smirked, not that anyone could see it. One gym down and seven to go, he couldn't wait. Ash smiled down at Kirlia, who was staring up at him. He could see Kirlia's horns respond to his burst of positive emotion. There were several conflicting stories about Kirlia and their horns, Ash hoped he had the chance to figure them out.

It was time to move out, Cerulean city waited, right after going to the Pokemon center of course.

 **XXX**

 **Hey guys, I'm revamping this story. Hope you enjoy it. Please leave a review if you like it! And PM any mistakes you might find. I really appreciate it!**

 **Seriously, this chapter was filled with mistakes. I feel so awful for making people read this.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is the second chapter, hope you all enjoy it. I'm trying not to rush this story like I did previously, so no going straight to Vermillion for a dawn stone and sweeping everyone. This chapter is pretty Battle heavy and it introduces Ash's new rival, but in the end Ash will still win most of the time. That's the prerogative of being the main character.**

 **Also, this Chapter starts touching on Ash's battling persona and how people see him along with some Psychic nudges. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own nor profit from writing Pokémon. All hail the Pokémon author.**

XXX

Ash could hardly believe it had been over a month since starting his journey already. It felt like only yesterday that he was listening to Professor Birch talk about Ralt's and his mother, Gardevoir. He still wondered which Pokémon was Kirlia's father, it seemed important someway.

Ash sat watching the flames flicker as he kept a subtle eye on Baltoy and Kirlia, who were staring at each other across the small fire. Baltoy's reputation as a prankster was being hampered by Kirlia's new form. It seemed some of the stories about Kirlia being able to perceive the future were true, if they had sufficient motivation, and Kirlia certainly did. Kirlia had avoided all of Baltoy's pranks so far, but only just in some cases.

They were currently sitting in Mt Moon, in a small side route just off the main path. Mt Moon was a lot longer than Ash thought it was, as such they had been in here longer than anticipated. There was no danger of them running out of food or water, Ash had stocked up before leaving Pewter. Ash's main problem was navigation at this point. He had seen several groups of trainers hiring experienced guides through the mountain but had thought he could get through easily. Turns out he was wrong, and it was taking forever.

The main path was long and winding and split of in several different directions the further you went in, some paths lead deeper into the mammoth mountain while others lead upwards towards the peak. Baltoy was no help either. It had stayed around where it had come into being, usually only travelling small distances for substance.

The only good point was the amount of training they got in, against wild Pokémon and against any other trainers they had come across, which afterwards they would ask directions, most of them were lost like him. This was how they had come across there temporary travelling companion, a girl named Willow.

Willow had green eyes and honey blonde hair and seemed 1 or 2 years older than him. She had also just started her journey this season, but had travelled from the Sinnoh region to Kanto with her starter, a Shieldon, and her second Pokémon, a Murkrow. She was from Canalave city, which has a Steel type gym.

Willow had run out of potions and had literally run into him trying to find her way out of the cave. It turned out Ash was a sucker for a hurt Pokémon and great big green eyes with tears in them. She had broken through his façade nearly instantly. It turned out that Murkrow was only unconscious and not seriously hurt, but she was still overly thankful and decided to travel with him, ignoring his protests. She was a force of nature.

A rumbling sound snapped him out of his thoughts as he sprung up, Kirlia was also instantly awake. He peered out of the small tunnel they were currently camped in and looked both ways before stepping out. He cocked his head to try and trace the source of the sounds and his eyes widened as he was telekinetically yanked back just as a Graveller rolled past, several more following it. He turned around and sent thankful look towards Kirlia who had probably just saved his life.

Willow was now also awake and yawning as she rubbed her eyes. Her hair was a complete mess and both her Pokémon were now outside their Pokeball's looking around cautiously. Shieldon could probably sense the tremors through the earth and could tell something was wrong. Shieldon was staying pretty close to Willow, a good protection.

"What's going on" Willow muttered towards him as he peeked outside once again, thankfully he couldn't hear anymore rumbling. It was time to leave. Something must have been causing the Graveller's distress, maybe a surfaced Onix or something.

"Something has upset the local Pokémon, a train of Graveller rolled past before. It's probably what woke you up. Pack, we need to get moving" Ash spoke back quickly. Something was very wrong right now. The tremors were starting up again. Now he was thinking clearly, it almost sounded like drilling. Drilling was illegal inside Mt Moon.

They were both packed and ready in less than 5 minutes, a new record for Willow, who took forever in the mornings. Ash could hear her muttering something about her hair, which made him snicker. It looked like a Pidgey nest, not that he was going to tell her that.

They set off in the direction the Graveller had come from, Shieldon in front and Kirlia in between Willow and him as protection. Both Murkrow and Baltoy were inside their Pokeball's for safety. Ash wondered if it was actually drilling or just a territory dispute or something similar between wild Pokémon.

Shieldon suddenly gave a cry as it flashed silver, using the move Iron Defence. A single second of silence before a Geodude rolled straight into Shieldon and was stopped dead. Shieldon than used Headbutt and knocked the Geodude back when Kirlia joined in and attacked with Magical leaf. Geodude retreated after using Rock throw a single time as Kirlia let out a small snort.

This continued for 30 minutes or so until they emerged inside a large cavern that was consumed in Chaos. 2 large Onix were being attacked from several small Pokémon and their trainers, and Ash let dread fill him as he noticed the large drilling equipment. Ash just hoped they didn't wake Onix's evolved form Steelix. If a Steelix surfaced here, a lot of deaths would occur, especially if it was in a rage.

The scientists cheered when the Onix fled and Ash hoped that was the end of it. Sadly he didn't get his wish. The cheering abruptly stopped when a roar echoed out from a side entrance near Ash and Willow.

Ash shoved Willow to the side, and hid them behind some upturned boulders as a Golem rolled into the cavern. Ash swallowed and threw his hand over Willows mouth just before she screamed. Golems were very dangerous Pokémon in the wild, especially when angered, just like this Golem was.

"Vileplume use Toxic" called out a guard. His Vileplume instantly shot out purple gunk that covered the Golem. Golem roared and stomped his foot, then the attack Earthquake ripped through the cavern.

"Petal Blizzard, Energy ball, Water Pulse" shouted different trainers. Ash watched in horror as the Golem dodged every single attack by using Dig and came up in amongst the trainers and Pokémon and used Stone Edge. Stone Edge was a deadly Rock type attack that created what were basically stone spears underneath whatever the Pokémon was aiming at.

The Golem surrounded himself like a flower as it used Stone Edge, the stone spears surrounding it in a circle. Ash vomited as he watched people and the weaker Pokémon alike die due to the brutal attack. He could feel Willow's shudders as she buried her face into his shoulder. Ash had to call the League, this was too much for him to handle. Blood had been splattered all across the cavern and bodies were lying everywhere, with holes throughout them. Some of the remaining Pokémon were still trying to fight the Golem, but Ash knew it was futile.

He fumbled with his Pokedex as he put in the emergency code that would broadcast a signal for help. He used the emergency, in extreme danger, death, mountain code which was red. A color he struggled to look at right now. This wasn't the first time Ash had seen a Pokémon die, at just 8 years old, he had watched as Mr. Mime, his mother's Pokémon sacrifice itself to save Ash. But this was the first time he had seen a person die.

The signal was a code taught to all beginner Pokémon trainers, and all electronic devices had a input modem for it. It could be broadcast from anywhere in the region and depending on the code sent, a league unit usually responded.

No less than 30 seconds later, 5 people appeared right next to him from teleportation thanks to 2 Alakazam. They immediately got to work, 3 releasing fully evolved Pokémon to deal with the raging Golem. A Hypno appeared in front of Ash and Ash stared at the pendulum as it swung in front of his face, he felt his eyes droop the more he stared, then he knew no more.

Ash's last thought was of a sad smiling Mr. Mime with a hole through its chest give him a hug as it wept. He would find out 12 hours later why Mr. Mime was crying that his bad feeling came true.

XXX

Ash woke with a gasp as he quickly sat up. He instantly sought out his Pokémon and found them sitting on the end of the bed. He sat back with a sigh of relief. Thank Arceus the league team had gotten there when they did. Willow and he had no way out, especially with that Golem rampaging around the room. It was total luck it hadn't discovered them and made them kebabs.

Ash just sat with his Pokémon and basked in the peace of the Pokémon Centre. He idly listened to the TV as he stroked Kirlia's hair and watched Baltoy spin on its spike. His happiness disappeared when Nurse Joy led a League officer into his room.

"Ash Ketchum, League Reference number 130298, correct?" asked the man. Ash just nodded, the Kadabra next to the man had its eyes glowing and Ash knew it was monitoring him to see if he was telling the truth. He wondered if Kirlia would be able to block if Ash asked.

"Were you involved with the illegal mining operation inside Mt Moon" asked the man. Ash shook his head no. The Kadabra nodded again and Ash watched as the League officer visibly relaxed.

"Thanks Kadabra, I'll bring you back out later for a treat. Thanks for the hard work" the man spoke in a kinder tone. He obviously liked his Pokémon. He definitely treated the Kadabra well. Its coat was shiny and it looked on the edge of evolution into a Alakazam.

"Sorry kid, but we needed to know. I'm sorry you had to see that cavern. Could you tell me what happened? The girl, Willow, has already left to go back to Sinnoh region after telling us her side. She left a note for you to read" Ash felt briefly dizzy taking in all the information but sought through it.

He told the league officer everything he could remember, and was handed a handwritten note in return. He gently opened it and started reading.

"Hey Ash, I'm sorry for leaving without telling you goodbye, but after what happened in Mt Moon. I needed to go home to Sinnoh to see my Mom and Dad. Shieldon and Murkrow will miss you and so will I. I look forward to battling you when I return to Kanto, so you better watch out!

I am completely fine, if slightly traumatized from watching the Golem attack. I will come back to Kanto later in the season, but have decided for now to travel around Sinnoh to gain some experience, especially in the wild. Mt Moon was a maze, and i never want to experience that again.

I look forward to seeing you again, even if we were only travelling together briefly, you really inspired me to train my Pokémon a lot harder.

Willow xo"

Ash found himself blushing at the end, who even signs things like that anymore! He could see Kirlia perk up at his emotions and fought them down. He ignored the curious looks both Kirlia and Baltoy sent his way as he folded up the letter and stashed it inside his pack. It was going to be a boring few days until he was allowed to leave.

3 days later, Ash left the Cerulean Pokémon Centre and headed towards the Poke-mart, he picked up his usual supplies and also decided to buy a sleek fishing rod, it . It was time to do some training, both Baltoy and Kirlia had missed their daily sessions since they had been stuck in the Pokémon Centre with him, it was time to correct that.

2 hours of walking North of Cerulean brought them to a small grassy clearing next to a river. This was a perfect training spot. He hadn't spotted anyone in over half an hour, so this was perfect. Ash quickly set up camp, they would be here for a few days, the river would give them plenty of fresh water and he still had plenty of food in his pack. It was time to train.

"All right, Kirlia, I want you to work on Shadow Sneak and learning Psychic along with Calm mind. I know you almost have Calm mind mastered, so work on that first" a simple nod from Kirlia was all a reply Ash got before Kirlia teleported away. Ash then turned to Baltoy with a thoughtful hum. Ash had skimmed through some information on his Pokedex about Baltoy, and they were exceedingly rare, a fact Ash hadn't known.

Not a lot of trainers had ever had a Baltoy, which also meant not a lot of trainers had ever fought against one, something Ash knew would come in handy in the IBC or any smaller tournament's he might participate in. Ash had wondered what Baltoy was doing so close to the surface, when its species was usually locked away deep in caverns forgotten by mankind.

"Baltoy, I'm going to give you a TM. It'll let you learn a new move" Ash had only noticed as they were walking but Ash suspected Baltoy had never left the mountain before. Baltoy had continually spun about trying to take in everything it saw. A flash of red and Baltoy was returned inside its Pokeball. Ash searched through his bag until he found his TM case, which only had a single TM inside it; Sandstorm.

Ash entered the small disk inside the slot of the Pokeball. The Pokeball lit up as the data was transferred to the Pokémon inside it. A small flash of light signaled that it was done and Ash packed everything away and released Baltoy, who shook its head. It must be disorientating to have information shoved inside its head like that, and although Ash knew it didn't actually hurt the Pokémon, some Psychic types could be badly affected.

"Baltoy, I want you to go over the other side of the clearing and use Sandstorm. Make it as small as you can, then gradually grow it bigger. After that, I want you to focus on learning Cosmic Power, it'll become extremely useful in the future". Ash watched as Baltoy levitated away, spinning slowly. If Ash's plan worked out, Baltoy and its evolved form Claydol were going to become a true long range power house.

Ash dozed lightly under a tree before Kirlia teleporting nearby startled him awake. His eyes widened as he watched a burst of water splatter uselessly against the tree where he had just been sleeping. Ash snapped his head around to see a Staryu firing another water gun against him, he dove sideways as Kirlia fired off a Magical leaf attack. The Staryu dove back beneath the water and re-appeared firing off another Water gun attack, its attack was interrupted mid-way through as a chunk of earth smashed into it and forced it away from its position above the river and onto land.

The Staryu seemed to shake itself, and Ash watched in awe as its damaged limbs regrew to become brand new in front of his eyes. He wanted this Pokémon, he primed a Pokeball and waited for the perfect opportunity.

Kirlia and Baltoy drew closer from opposing sides and were trapping the Staryu when its red gem began to glow slightly. Ash had no time to shout a warning before a wave of Psychic energy blasted out and knocked Kirlia and Baltoy away and Ash onto his ass.

Staryu then used the opportunity gained to release liberal amounts of tiny stars towards both Pokémon, who were both hit. Ash found himself growing angry as he watched Kirlia cry out in pain. Ash threw the primed Pokeball and watched seething as Staryu disappeared in a flash of red.

He glanced towards his 2 Pokémon, who were both recovered enough to continue battling, when Staryu broke free of the Pokeball and launched what Ash thought might of been a Bubblebeam attack directly at him. Kirlia reacted instantly and teleported Ash away to safety as Baltoy launched another Ancient power at the Staryu, and got a direct hit.

The attack knocked Staryu back and had damaged one of its legs, once again, Ash watched as its limb started to regrow when Kirlia took its chance. A truly magnificent Magical Leaf attack hit Staryu dead on and knocked it back into the water, and Ash knew he had to stop its regeneration somehow, and a wide grin spilt his lips as the idea came to him.

It was time to take command and finish this, this Staryu was his.

"Kirlia, Baltoy, as soon as it jumps up, get it back on land in anyway possible. Baltoy, I want you to use Heal block on it, that should stop its regeneration, I'm going to catch it. Make sure to damage its legs, then it wont be able to move".

The battle continued, all 3 Pokémon becoming more and more exhausted the longer it went on, with Staryu gaining more and more of an advantage as it continued to recover. Kirlia and Baltoy just couldn't get knock the Staryu back on land when Kirlia used a move he had forgotten about which made Ash want to smack himself. Heal pulse made Baltoy glow slightly for a few seconds as some of its battle wounds healed over and Baltoy erupted with a sudden burst of energy that let it brute force it way to Staryu.

A rapid spin to counter water gun, confusion to counter Psywave, and Psybeam to destroy the swift attack. Baltoy blasted Ancient power and finally knocked Staryu onto land. Just as Staryu was turning towards the levitating Baltoy behind it to strike back was when Kirlia struck.

Psychic, the attack, made Staryu glow as it encompassed it and Ash watched as Kirlia swung it in a wide circle and slammed it into a tree like a meteorite. Ash couldn't help he proud smile that adorned his face as he remembered the struggle of using confusion to do that exact same tactic, now it looked so ridiculously easy with Psychic.

Baltoy quickly took its chance and used Heal block just as the stunned Staryu shook itself to regain its bearings.

Ash watched with glee as Staryu shivered and went to regenerate and didn't. He threw another primed Pokeball and watched with a held breath as it shook 3 times and clicked closed. Ash fell backwards and laid on the ground and started chuckling.

Ash knew it was time to call it a day, and returned his exhausted Pokémon as he packed up and started trudging back towards Cerulean to visit the Pokémon Centre.

XXX

Ash woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache, and his dream quickly vanishing from his mind. All he could seem to remember was standing on top of an icy peak with hail buffeting him, a Gallade standing just as stoically next to him as an older Blonde woman returned a unconscious blue and red dragon.

Ash shook his head and got ready for the day. After showering and collecting his clean clothes from the washing room, he set out to the front desk where he met Nurse Joy. There was a small line, but it wasn't much of a wait. A slightly older girl in front of him with orange hair collected 3 Pokémon before he got his turn. After being told all 3 of his Pokémon were in perfect health, he sat down in the cafeteria and ate.

As he was eating, he gradually took notice that everyone was turning to the TV and turned towards it as well.

 _"We have confirmed reports of a skirmish breaking out between Kanto Rangers and unknown assailants. The assailants escaped with numerous heavily wounded Pokémon and it is confirmed they have at least 1 dead among them. The Kanto Rangers also received heavy injuries and all have been taken to Saffron General for observation and treatment"._

Ash and the rest of the room watched with growing horror as heavily censored video was played across the screen recorded from a Rangers Kadabra. It showed a the Squad of Rangers engage a group of Pokémon trainers dressed in glossy purple and blue, with black stripes thrown in. All had masks on, to protect their identities. Finally a Ranger appeared on screen with a warning.

 _"Kanto Region, in case you don't know me. I am Commander Dean, I am in charge of Kanto's Ranger division. I implore all Kanto residents to call the local authroites if any suspicious activity is suspected or spotted by persons in blue and purple. The pitched battle yesterday was a dreadful thing but we pushed them back, but they will be back, I assure you. A captured assailant has been questions and truthful answers have been given. I wish everyone to stay safe and don't try to be a hero, leave it up to the Authorities, we have been trained for this. Thank you"_

Ash walked outside in mute shock, he truly couldn't comprehend what he had just heard. But his mind flashed back to the mining operation and he remembered seeing a guy in purple, but that could mean anything.

Ash shook his head, banishing all thought of the news. It was time to get back to training. He walked back to the clearing they had been in yesterday, and set up camp again. With his new Pokémon, they were going to be training for at least a week to get Staryu integrated into the team, if Staryu accepted them anyway.

Ash released his first 2 Pokémon and watched as they looked around tensed up, before relaxing. Ash smiled at them, not that they could see it, since his mouth as hidden behind his scarf, but he was sure they could both feel in somewhat. Ash frowned as he didn't actually know how advanced Baltoy's Psychic abilities were and what they were focused towards. Maybe it was Physical manifestations, or it could be Psychic control or even seeing the future, Ash truly didn't have a clue.

"We have a new member, as you both should remember from yesterday. This will be its first time out of the Pokeball, so be ready for any reaction. Kirlia, I want you to be ready with Psychic, and Baltoy, Heal block. If we have to battle it again, we will". Both Pokémon nodded and Ash nodded back as he unclipped Staryu's Pokeball from his belt and released the Pokémon stored within.

Staryu appeared on the ground in front of them, Ash had decided against being near the river, just in case Staryu tried to escape. Looks like his fears were unfounded as Staryu just stared at them. Ash knew it was time to introduce himself.

"Staryu, I'm Ash, I'm a trainer from Pallet town. We battled you yesterday and won, you were magnificent so I decided to catch you and add you to my team. Do you mind if I scan you" Ash asked and didn't receive an answer, he decided that wasn't a no, so forged on. He pulled out his Pokedex and held it up towards Staryu.

"Staryu, the star Pokémon. Staryu is a water type Pokémon. It has 5 brown appendages it can regrow as long as its core is intact. This Staryu is female and has the move set: Harden, Tackle, Water Gun, Rapid spin, Recover, Psywave, Swift and Bubblebeam. Its ability is Illuminate and Staryu is able to evolve into Starmie with the use of a water stone".

Once again, Ash marveled at his luck for finding amazing Pokémon, and he said so. Both Staryu and Baltoy preened under his praise, Staryu reluctantly. Though Ash ignored the dirty look Kirlia sent his way as Baltoy spun around and nearly hit him.

It took ash almost 20 minutes of talking and asking before they came to a deal with help from Kirlia. Staryu's dream was to evolve to a Starmie, and she had attacked him in hopes that he would catch her so he could do just that. She needed a water stone, and like all evolution stones, they were absurdly rare. They either costs tens of thousands of dollars, or were buried deep underneath the earth where only the most dedicated of people could reach them.

Afterwards, they would see how things went. Both Ash and Staryu recognized that it could take a while so Ash talked about himself and his dreams and short term goals just like he had to Baltoy and Kirlia. It was also a good time to see all of Staryu's moves, she had some she needed work on, but she was already well up to scratch, and could contend with both his trained Pokémon.

Training was as intense as ever for his team, Kirlia had perfected Psychic and was working on Hyponosis/Dream Eater combo and it was coming along fairly well, working most of the time. The hard part was siphoning the energy without waking the other Pokemon up, something Wild Pokemon battles helped with immensly.

Baltoy had also mastered the moves it had been working on, and was now working on Extrasensory and Earth Power. Extrasensory was causing some problems, but Earth power was coming along nicely, although it wasn't yet useable in battle.

Staryu was the truly impressive one, she had mastered all of her current move set, so all Ash could do was start trying to teach her new moves, which was camouflage and Brine, both of which were almost battle ready.

Ash then decided it was time to get some practical experience. He returned his team and started heading towards the Golden Nugget Bridge. The Nugget bridge was a league sponsored tournament that gave its winner a Golden nugget, which could be sold for a good amount of money, especially for a trainer. Ash wanted to enter and see the competition. New trainers like him had been steadily trickling in from Pewter to challenge the second Gym leader Misty Water-flower, and just like last year, her all out offensive with water types was hard to beat.

 _"Ash Ketchum and Troy Prince, please enter the arena and choose your 2 Pokémon"_ Ash walked in and got a good look at his opponent. The other kid was tall and had shiny blonde hair, a lot of the people Ash was meeting lately had blonde hair he noticed.

 _"This is a Tier 2 battle, both trainers are not allowed to switch and no potions or revives are allowed to be used. If both of a trainers Pokémon are knocked out of forfeited, the other trainer wins. Ketchum, release your first Pokémon"_ the commentator announced. Ash grimaced, he hated the release first rule, especially when it was him going first, it really gave the person a disadvantage.

Luckily, his first Pokémon would enjoy the pool and her first opportunity to battle. A flash of red and Staryu was standing right next to the pool. Another flash of red and Ash grimaced as he recognized the Pokemon standing across from Staryu. Ash scowled from behind his scarf as he watched the Beedrill drip poison from its stingers.

"Staryu, Bubblebeam and harden" Ash called out as he watched the Beedrill charge. Staryu fired off her wide spread Bubblebeam attack and harden itself. The Beedrill crashed through the bubbles, getting damaged but not heavily so. It struck out with a Twin-needle attack even as it cried out in pain.

"Dodge and use Water gun" but the Beedrill didn't give Staryu any chance, instantly racing after it with the dark move Pursuit, which let it hone in onto Staryu like a Houndoom tracking a scent. The Twin-needle attack connected and Ash clenched his fist as he watched Staryu cry out, but couldn't help the smirk as a full powered water gun hit Beedrill from pointblank range and injured it. Not only did the attack injure it, it also soaked its wings, making it impossible to fly. After that, it was an easy knockout using Psywave to finish it off.

Ash then watched as Troy grimaced and sent out his second Pokémon, a Growlithe, a fire type Pokémon Ash knew well. The Growlithe look very well trained for its age, but there was nothing it could do as Staryu had just plopped into the small pond.

"Water gun Barrage" Ash said. Ash watched as Water gun after water gun was unleashed towards the Growlithe which gave a growl and began dodging even without its trainers call. Another call, and a Smokescreen covered half the field, which limited Staryu's aim. But Ash just used a pervious tactic.

"Wide spread Bubblebeam" and off the 2 Pokémon went. The dog Pokémon dodging for all its worth as Staryu sat within the confines of the pond. It was a long drawn out battle, the Growlithe giving its all but there was nothing it could do. It was there win.

Troy and Ash shook hands after the battle was over, they didn't speak to each other because what could Ash say? Good job would just make Troy feel bad, and Ash may find himself uncaring of other People, but he wasn't always deliberately an ass, it didn't help Troy was glaring at him the whole time.

The next battle was a little easier, with his opponent releasing first, and it was a Pikachu. Ash had decided early on to keep Kirlia a secret until the later battles, and as this was only the second round, use Baltoy and Staryu exclusively. It also help them train against other trainers, as Kirlia usually took all challenges to Ash along the road, something Ash didn't mind. He hadn't lost a single battle yet, although he knew it was only a matter of time.

Ash replied by sending out Baltoy, and watched as a lot of People got a confused look on their face at the new arrival, it made him smile, not that anyone could see it of course. The stands had been slowly being filled as more time went on and were fairly full as the second round commenced.

"Pikachu, Thunder-shock" called out Ash's opposition, Ash didn't even have time to blink as a flash of yellow crossed the field and slammed into a pale green barrier that had appeared in front of Baltoy. Baltoy had countered with Protect, even before Ash had blinked. This was Ash's first time facing an electric attack and they were fast! Another yellow flash as another Thunder-shock flew across the field, once again Baltoy was ready, as another Protect shimmered into view to block the attack.

"Baltoy, Rock Tomb, litter the field with obstacles" Ash said softly. Baltoy, who was barely 10 feet in front of him, hummed an affirmative. No less than 5 seconds later, several large rocks were raised from its feet and fired around the field, some even aimed at the Pikachu.

Ash watched, as Pikachu's trainer muttered some words he couldn't hear, and Pikachu shot off like a Hydro pump fired from a Blastoise. Pikachu streaked across the field, leaving a trail of yellow sparks behind it. He couldn't help smirking as Pikachu flipped over, an Electroball leaving its tail and fired towards Baltoy.

"Confusion, then do plan E when you get the chance" Ash spoke softly once again. Baltoy's confusion quickly levitated a rock into the Electroball's path, destroying it. The battle quickly escalated, Baltoy not moving from its position as Pikachu streaked across the field, firing several attacks from different positions to try and break through Baltoy's defense, all of a sudden it was over in a blink of an eye.

Protect to block Thunder-shock, Psybeam to destroy Electroball mid-flight, then Baltoy went on the offensive. Plan E went into effect, Rock Tomb to cut off Pikachu's movement, Psybeam to disrupt a desperate Thunder-Shock attack, then Ancient power to finish it. Ancient power smacked into Pikachu like a lightning bolt ripped across the sky, a rather nice analogy that went well with the current situation Ash knew.

Pikachu fainted and Baltoy let out a pleased hum, Ash knew Baltoy was really starting to enjoy winning, the same as Ash himself did. But Ash also knew they couldn't get over confident, they would be battling stronger opposition soon he knew. The other trainer muttered more words as he threw out his second Pokemon. Ash only just stopped the groan from leaving his mouth when an Onix appeared on the field.

How the hell did they keep popping up wherever he went? Onix were meant to dwell far down beneath the earths outer layers, how could trainers and wild Onix keep following him around, it was terrible. How the hell did a newbie trainer like himself even catch an Onix anyway. Ash knew he was frowning but he couldn't help it, first Brock, then Mt Moon, then now.

"Baltoy, Cosmic Power, Ancient Power, then Psybeam, Go!" Ash spoke quickly. Even before the Onix could finish letting loose its roar, Baltoy was finally moving. Ash watched as Cosmic Power hardened Baltoy up and made it grow a little bigger, making it stronger. 2 huge chunks of earth were ripped out of the field and hurled across it to smash into the Onix, which swung its head in Baltoy's direction and bellowed in rage even if it was barely hurt.

It was Psybeam that did the true damage, it smashed into the Onix's head and made the Stone behemoth stumble back, shaking its head in pain. But then the Onix shot forward, far faster than it should have been able to. Even as Baltoy tried firing another Psybeam and backing away, the Onix had already started constricting it.

Ash sighed to himself, he knew Baltoy wasn't strong enough to escape and so returned it. A flash of red and Baltoy was safely back inside its Pokeball. It was a funny feeling, losing. It was his first official loss, even if he did win the match.

Staryu emerged and immediately started blasting the Onix with several Water Guns and Bubblebeams, slowly whittling down its energy until the rock snake fainted, and collasped on the ground. Ash hadnt even needed to help Staryu, it was that easy for the water type. Onix had gotten several Rock throws off, but Staryu recovered easily.

Several more matches went by like this, Baltoy and Staryu constantly winning. Baltoy had returned with a vengeance, critically injuring a Drowzee with Ancient Power even as they mentally battled for dominance. It seems Ash had finally found Baltoy's Psychic specialty, mental battles and multitasking.

It was the final battle of day, and even Ash found himself exhausted, but he had loved today all of the same. Constant battling had improved Baltoy and Staryu a lot, nearly catching them up to Kirlia. Staryu had opted out of the final battle, even it was unwillingly. Its gem had received a tiny crack from a Bellsprout's Vinewhip, and it had retreated to heal it. A mysterious process that was shrouded in secrecy. but now Kirlia had a chance to battle.

Ash knew he would need his most powerful friend by his side for this final battle, somehow, the other trainer had acquired an Dratini, a legendary dragon type Pokémon. The Dratini, with help from its trainer had swept through all opposition, leaving chaos in its wake. The Dratini was large, almost large enough to be considered a Dragonair, all Ash could hope for was that it didn't evolve in this battle. But an inkling of a plan was starting to form as he stared at his Pokedex screen, and a tiny smirk wormed its way onto his face.

He was going to win, and Kirlia was going to win it for him. 3 minutes before the match, Ash released Kirlia and Baltoy told them the plan, a single nod was his answer as he felt the gentlest of nudges inside his head that made him smile, knowing it was from Kirlia, his oldest friend. Baltoy just accepted his words, even though he hated himself for coming up with the plan. Baltoy was becoming fanatical with its loyalty to Ash, and even though Ash loved him for it, sometimes he wished Baltoy would say no.

 _"Ash Ketchum, our other finalist. All day he has stomped his competition flat with a single team, a rare Ground/Psychic dual type Baltoy and a battle focused water type Staryu, will he choose the same team, knowing he will be going up against a Dragon type, or does he have something special saved for last, we're about to find out. Arthur will release first, you both understand the rules, BEGIN"._

Ash steadied his breathing as Arthur, his opponent, was chosen to release first. Just as Ash had thought, Arthur had released the Pokémon he hadn't used all tournament, which was a Gastly, a Ghost/Poison dual type. Ash released Baltoy in return and the battle was on.

"Baltoy, Cosmic Power, Ancient Power and Psybeam. Don't let it get close". Gastly was already half-way across the field when Ancient Power smashed into it, but it didn't do any damage. Ash felt like cursing when Gastly materialized even closer, coming nearly within touching distance. Ash felt like jumping into a Hydro Pump when he uttered the 2 dreaded words even as an Ice Punch was on its way, though he made sure his voice held steady and cold.

"Baltoy, Self-destruct".

An explosion covered the field in smoke, and even before it was cleared, Ash had returned Baltoy and whispered a soft sorry to it in the confusion. He hated himself for doing that, but couldn't see many other ways to win against the Gastly, even Psychic attacks were limited thanks to the Gastly being able to disappear into the Shadow world. Ash glanced down at the Pokeball and felt like he had died a little on the inside when it showed the warning 'Critical' in flashing red letters.

A Pokémon Nurse came up behind him and snatched the Pokeball out of his hands. Ash ignored the muttered words about him and re-focused back on the battle. Ash and Kirlia were going to win this, for Baltoy and its Sacrifice.

 _"And in a shocking display of tactics, Ash Ketchum had his Pokémon Self-destruct making this round a double Knock-out. Now both trainers are to send out there only remaining Pokémon. Folks, we all know what Arthur is sending out, Dratini, a fabled Dragon type. What about Ash Ketchum, will he stick with Staryu, or does he have another Pokémon"_

Ash threw his Pokeball softly and released Kirlia, the crowd ooo'd and ahhh'd. Ash shut his eyes in relief but a niggling feeling made him grimace, he knew what was about to happen.

 _"SHINY"_ someone yelled out and the small stadium went silent. Ash kept his face perfectly blank, even if his scarf covered half of it and Ash could Feel Kirlia doing the same. This was becoming somewhat of a routine, also another reason to craft their cold persona on the field.

 _"What a stunning appearance, first we have a legendary Dragon type, close to evolution by the looks of it. On the other side of the field, we have a SHINY Pokémon, Ash Ketchum is full of all sorts of surprises folks. Hope your all as excited as I am for the final battle"._ Ash felt like strangling the commentator, couldn't they focus on the actual battle, instead of posturing and blurting out random facts no one wanted to know when watching a battle.

The battle had started off with a cat and mouse chase. The Dratini was constantly using Aqua Jet to try and smash into Kirlia's smaller form with its bigger bulk. It would cause significant damage, as Kirlia was very weak to Physical based attacks due it his small form.

Kirlia would teleport away and fire off confusion attacks that would hurl rocks towards Dratini, who was several times faster thanks to early use of Agility, and could dodge them easily enough, only occasionally being clipped by them. Then it was the moment Ash knew they were both waiting for, though Ash hoped his Pokedex was right, or this was going to backfire spectacularly.

"Dratini, Dragon Rage" Dark blue fire rapidly poured forth from the Dragon type's mouth and spread across the field to engulf Kirlia who was standing still. Ash felt like his heart stopped as he and Kirlia locked eyes, and for a second, Ash was looking from Kirlia's perspective, heatless fire washing across his torso even as the opposing Trainer yelled with joy and he felt nothing. He was suddenly looking from the trainers box again, gasping for breath.

Arthurs cheer was cut off as Dratini started to screech in pain and cheering crowd went silent. As the fire and smoke cleared, Ash, Arthur and the crowd all saw Kirlia standing over a screeching Dratini, who was rolling around in agony. A burst of angry energy let the Dratini fire another swath of dark blue flames at Kirlia, who stood mere feet away. Once again, the flames did nothing, the crowd gasping as the flames washed over Kirlia as the commentator started spluttering about Fairy types.

Ash watched as an intense fury tempered by calm washed over Arthur's face as they locked eyes, and Ash knew the battle was still on.

"Kirlia, another Disarming voice, then Calm mind, then use Draining Kiss" Ash called out calmly as Arthur also commanded Dratini. Dratini coiled like a snake and shot forth, jets of water powering it as it sped straight at Kirlia, who once again screeched at Dratini using Disarming voice, then teleported away. Dratini once again screeched in agony but composed itself rather quickly.

Ash got a sudden horrible feeling his earlier wish was about to become true.

Another Agility let the Dragon speed up even further, as Kirlia could barely teleport in time when Draining kiss connected. Ash could visibly see Kirlia getting revitalized from the potent Dragon type energy at the same time as Dratini wilted. Then it happened, Dratini broke free of the Fairy type move and roared in rage as it burst into white light.

Ash could feel the camera's that recorded all matches all swing at the same time towards the evolution. The roar turned deeper and stronger then went silent. Ash, Arthur, and crowd weren't ready for the shining blue tail that swung sideways out of the dying light straight at Kirlia, but apparently Kirlia was.

Ash was dumbfounded at Kirlia's reaction time as he popped away with teleportation. Ash knew Gallade and Gardevoir both had different versions of seeing the future. Gardevoir could see ahead and actually read the events, but that, right there, Ash knew was the start of Kirlia learning Gallade's hidden ability, Instinctual Premonition.

Instinctual Premonition could only be used in 2 different ways. In battle, to view/read the opponents movements before they have even happened and react accordingly. Outside of battle when something bad is about to happen nearby or its trainer.

Ash knew then and there Kirlia was going to evolve into a Gallade, no matter what.

The battle continued, both trainers leaving it to their individual Pokémon to win it for them. It was a brutal battle, mainly towards Dragonair. Rocks, water and leaves were all shrouded in Psychic energy and hurled at the Dragon type as Fairy type attacks continued draining it of energy. Even with Agility, Dragonair, with its new form, just couldn't catch Kirlia since the influx of Draconic energy Kirlia had gotten earlier.

Kirlia attacked and attacked, and didn't stop. Whittling down Dragonair until it was finally unconscious after one last draining kiss. Ash could see Kirlia panting with exhaustion, even as it teleported one more time straight to his side where Ash ruffled his hair and returned him to his Pokeball.

He couldn't be more proud.

XXX

After receiving his prize and spending the night hidden inside the Pokémon Centre waiting for his Pokémon to heal, Ash could say Golden nuggets were over-rated. It was worth a fair bit of money, and Ash did sell it. But the main problem was Arthur, they had left each other on less than good terms and Ash knew they would be battling each other again for certain.

Ash did some research into Arthur Drago, and came across some startling information. Arthur was apparently a second Cousin of Champion Lance's, coming from the same Clan: Drake. Arthur was from a lesser line though, but through battling and achieving victory, could help raise his family name among the clans of Drake, being defeated by Ash would've been a slight Arthur couldn't handle.

For now though, Ash was putting that all behind him as it was time to focus on battling for the Cerulean Gym badge, against the Gym Leader Misty. Misty was a master of the water type and had several different teams prepared for a tier 2 battle, but her corner stone Pokémon was a Starmie.

Ash wasn't in any real hurry though, though he did have somewhere to be in another month and a half. After helping out this Pokémon who turned out to be a human, as compensation, he received a Ticket to journey on the S. , a premier cruise ship that was going to be docked in Vermillion city until it left on the week long cruise to travel around Cinnabar island back to Vermillion city. The thing Ash was looking forward to though was the battle competition where trainers could win several different prizes, it wasn't just a one v one competition though, there was also double battles and a triple battle.

Ash currently sat watching as Misty's Starmie decimated a Charmeleon by firing several high pressure blasts of water as it levitated about the pool. Charmeleon stood no chance against the relentless water type and ended up fainting. The kids other Pokémon also didn't make any difference, both Butterfree and Mankey losing as well. It was only afterwards that Ash realized it was the 'Awesome' kid from Professor Oak's lab, the one that had picked up the fire type Pokeball he was about to take.

Ash felt strangely relieved the kid had done that, other wise he wouldn't have gotten Ralts, now Kirlia.

Trainer after trainer Ash sat and watched and tried to watch Misty's style, but other than attacking constantly, she never did anything else. Ash would have to find a way to force her on the defensive, because letting Misty constantly attack was just looking for a loss, something Ash was determined to not happen to him or a while yet.

For training, Ash had Kirlia start to incorporate Shadow sneak into their attack plans. It was a hard move, especially for Kirlia, but hard work and stubbornness got it competent enough to use in battle. Ash had even toyed with going to the TM section in the local Pokemart, but decided to wait until he travelled to Saffron or Celadon as most TM's were of the same type of the Gym, such as Cerulean was water.

Baltoy had successfully learned Earth Power, its first real Ground type move. Earth power was a weird move in Ash's opinion, it was basically shoving a ton of energy into the ground and bending it to your will, he had so many different ideas for it. But for now, Ash had Baltoy use it as a modified Stone edge, creating rock pillars that were shoved towards the opposing Pokémon to deal blunt force damage, or even creating a rock pillar underneath the Pokémon and shooting them upwards.

Staryu was working on Power Gem, a rock type move that formed little gems that could be shot like a Razor leaf attack. They trained for 3 days in the wilds and against other travelling trainers winning all of their battles, even if it was Kirlia battling most of the time, not wanting a single slight to Ash's name.

A minor problem was people starting to recognize him, and remembering him for his brutal command to make his Pokémon Self destruct. He had let the scorn wash over him and appeared unaffected, but deep inside, he questions the actions he took, and somehow could've come up with a new way.

This brought even more battles his way as trainers were looking to prove themselves against the person who had subdued a Dragon, and make him see the 'errors' of his ways in the way he commanded his Pokémon. None won of course, Kirlia was particularly ruthless against the trainers who trash talked against him in his hearing range.

 _"Ash Ketchum, please enter the battle field"_ a voice called out from the loud speaker situated in the waiting room. Ash shook himself as he walked out onto the Gm floor, this was going to be his second gym challenge and they were NOT going to lose.

"Challenger, Ash Ketchum, this is a Tier 2 battle, as such your allowed 1 switch and no potions. Please release your first Pokémon" stated the referee. Ash released Staryu into the water, as Misty released a Poliwhirl. Ash blinked and studied the blue Pokémon, Misty hadn't used this team before so its appearance was quite a surprise. Ash was expecting a Tentacool or a Goldeen, maybe even the rare Horsea. Did this mean her Pokemon from another region Pokémon was also different, Ash didn't know, but Misty previously used Buizel or Barboach, hopefully it would stay that way.

Staryu started the battle off with its customary Water gun, which just splattered into Poliwhirl harmlessly as Ash groaned. Of course Poliwhirl would have the ability to not be harmed by water type moves. Water Absorb was going to be tough to work around, especially as Staryu was on the field.

"Staryu, no water type moves, you'll just make it stronger. Use swift, Psywave, then Rapid spin if it gets close". Ash watched as Water gun after Water gun was fired at Staryu who dipped and dived in and out of the pool. A Psywave attack knocked Poliwhirl off its feet, but did hardly any damage, Swift did more but Poliwhirl was adept at minimizing the damage it took by soaking in the water in quick bursts.

This battle was going to be long and drawn out, so Ash decided to recall Staryu and use Baltoy instead. Even with the weakness to water type, Baltoy would be a better fit for Poliwhirl and its defensive battling style, which now that Ash thought about, seemed odd.

"Return Staryu, Go Baltoy" Ash called out as red light flashed twice in quick succession. Baltoy was suddenly on the field and staring at Poliwhirl, who flexed its muscles in an obvious attempt of intimidation. Something Ash felt like scoffing at, Baltoy was more than its match, as it was about to find out.

"Cosmic Power, Earth Power than Psybeam, Baltoy" Ash called out at the same time as several accurate Water guns were fired at Baltoy, who shielded with protect. Ash grimaced as more and more Water guns piled up and eventually broke through the shimmering green barrier, but by than earth Power was already coming into play.

A feral grin he knew wouldn't have looked out of place on a Pokemon flashed across his face at Misty's startled look as several pillars made out of earth rose out of the pool, to form plenty of barricades for later battles, or in Ash's case, to serve as platforms.

Baltoy than spun forward rapidly to take cover away from the Water guns, but now Poliwhirl also had to move around to get a clear shot, it became a game of who was the most accurate, Poliwhirl with Water gun and Bubblebeam, or Baltoy with Psybeam. This was the Misty he had observed, constant attcks.

Ash noted that Misty didn't let the battle field distract her for long, as she quickly changed strategies as Poliwhirl rushed Baltoy, and smashed into it using Body slam, knocking it back but receiving a point blank Psybeam for its efforts.

Than Ash came to a startled realization and acted as quickly as possible. He had forgotten all about Poliwhirls healing ability and hopefully wouldn't pay for it.

"Baltoy, Confusion, bring it to you, than Heal block" Ash said calmly while his insides felt like they were about to freeze over. Just in time, Baltoy regained its bearing and a quick Confusion stopped the Water type Pokémon from jumping in the pool and brought it over towards Baltoy, who quickly used Heal block. But than Ash's plan backfired at Misty's call.

"Poliwhirl, use Hypnosis" Ash groaned silently as Poliwhirl's stomach began to swirl and watched as Baltoy, who was directly in front of it drop Poliwhirl form Confusion to fall asleep. Ash then watched with clenched hands and a blank face as Baltoy was subjected to 3 Body Slams before shaking itself awake.

"Baltoy, Psybeam, Ancient power, Earth Power than Extrasensory" Ash called out to the panting Pokemon. Ash could see Baltoy was on its last legs, usually Baltoy would be able to take several more times damage than that, but that was when it was awake and able to prepare itself. That was what made Hypnosis so deadly, it gave the Pokémon that was asleep no chance to fight back or defend itself.

Ash watched proudly as Baltoy erupted in movement, its actions frenzied as it used up the last of its energy. Psybeam struck the still close Poliwhirl, causing it to cry out in pain, than Ancient Power as one of the pillars was torn in half and tossed at it, crashing into Poliwhirls crossed arms, only causing minimal damage. Earth Power erupted as a single pillar from underneath it and threw Poliwhirl up in the air just as Baltoy used Extrasensory to pull Poliwhirl in several different directions via Psychic energy causing severe damage.

Than Baltoy slumped forward and just before it hit the ground, it turned into red light. Ash patted Baltoy's Pokeball fondly as he released Staryu once again. Staryu immediately blasted the Poliwhirl with a Brine, dealing a lot of damage as its water heal was blocked and causing the Poliwhirl to faint.

Misty recalled her fainted Pokemon and sent out her second, and for once, Ash didn't recognize the Pokemon. It was obviously a fish, an ugly one at that. It was brown and covered in a darker brown as patches with full pink lips and wide eyes. It looked like a cousin to the Magikarp to be completely honest, Ash thought as he pulled out his Pokedex and scanned it.

 _"Feebas, the Fish Pokemon. It is un unremarkable Pokemon unless trained by a trainer. This Pokémon can eat anything and live almost anywhere as long as there is a small bit of water. It's dull wits make it an easy catch but it is largely ignored by most trainers. This Feebas has an evolved form, and that is its secret. This Feebas is Female"_ Spoke Ash's Pokedex.

Ash felt like laughing, until an Ice beam shot forth from its mouth and missed Staryu by inches. Ash snapped his gaping mouth shut as another Ice beam shot forth, once again missing Staryu by the tiniest margins.

"Staryu, Water gun and swift" Ash yelled out over the sounds of everything freezing. Both Pokemon were having trouble hitting the other as they battled it out with Ice Beam and Water gun due to the pillars of earth that still stuck up out of the pool. Ash was also starting to feel the cold even through the Psychic barriers that protected the trainers and audience stand and then it happened.

The sharp hiss of Ice beam travelling through the air was the only warning Staryu got as it burst out of the pool. It slammed into Staryu and Ash watched with a blank face as Staryu was frozen solid. He immediately returned Staryu, as Ash had no way to deal with a Pokemon Frozen solid. But now he was leaving the unhurt Feebas and most likely Starmie for Kirlia to face by himself.

Hopefully they would pull of the win, if not, it was going to be there first loss, ever.

Kirlia appeared, and instantly went on the attack. Several hisses filled the room as magical leaves sliced through the air perfectly on target, aiming straight for the Feebas, who had just jumped from the water with an Ice beam prepared. Ash blinked as Feebas fainted, knocked out in one hit, as all the leaves slammed into it.

Ash didn't know if it was naturally that weak, or had an extensive weakness to a grass type attack, which, granted, was super effective against it. Maybe it was even a combination of both. As Feebas was returned, Starmie was sent out, just as Ash had expected.

"Psychic" both trainers commanded. There was 2 versions of the move Psychic, the first was to Physically lift and move objects or other Pokémon around to deal damage. The second was a purely mental battle, fought between 2 Pokémon, or even between 2 Pokémon and their trainers. Which ever Pokémon won the battle would gain a massive advantage as the other Pokémon would gain a severe headache, or even become confused.

Starmie put up a hell of a fight from what Ash could see. But Kirlia was just naturally more powerful, no thanks to being a direct Psychic type and his unique heritage. As the weeks went on, Ash had noticed a definite increase in Kirlia's power level. Training that would tire Kirlia out 4 or 5 days before would become just a simple exercise in time, and heavier and heavier objects were able to be lifted even more easily. Ash wondered if there was even a limit sometimes, even he got flabbergasted at Kirlia's exponential growth rate. He had no doubt Kirlia right now could've battled and won against the wild Staryu that had challenged them at the river with no problems, with Baltoy on Staryu's side.

Starmie was thrown backwards and Ash watched proudly as Kirlia briefly levitated itself in victory, before regaining his composure over its win against the more experienced opponent. Kirlia than had to teleport away as Misty got Starmie to attack immediately, getting over Kirlia's mental win quite fast.

The battle was fast paced and therefore over quite quickly, Kirlia winning in the end, after a last ditch mental attack by the Starmie, but Kirlia pulled through, as Ash knew he would. The battle was quite boring, although the flashes of vision Ash experienced through Kirlia's eyes was interesting even though it tired him out like nothing else. It was nearly a repeat of battling Staryu when he had caught it, just with different attacks and Psychic battles. It was Shadow sneak that won Kirlia the battle, getting a super effective hit off on a unaware Starmie from behind. It was nice a win.

After being congratulated and handed his badge, Ash was also given a TM. It was another 3 use TM and it contained Scald, a move that turned water boiling hot, and even did good damage against Grass types.

It was the next day when Ash set off towards Vermillion, right into the heart of trainer battling, route Battle 1.

It was going to be a blast, Ash just knew it, and with Kirlia and his other friends by his side, it was going to be even better.

XXX

Hope you enjoy, sorry if all the battling got a little repetitive. Writing battle scenes that aren't the same as the previous ones is really hard. Review or PM me if you enjoyed it or spot any mistakes. I introduced Ash's 'offical' rival that isnt Gary.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Sorry for not updating!**

 **It was my birthday on the Thirteenth of Feb, and For Honor has been officially released! GO KNIGHTS! I also played the BETA for it, and have been levelling like mad since it came out on the fourteenth, I'm prestige 3 with the PeaceKeeper, Valkyrie, Nobishi and Beserker.**

 **I've received a few questions about Ash and his team, yes Ash will have a full Psychic team, and yes, it may include legendaries, though I'm not sure which one/s yet.**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Chapter 3 – Saffron and Silph Co.**

 **XXX**

Ash was well and truly frustrated as he walked along Battle route 1, not that the near constant battling wasn't fun, it was just the same thing over and over again. Constant successive battles, where as soon as someone won or lost and had healed their Pokémon, they were challenged straight away. Repeat when over.

Normally Ash would consider this quite fun, even if he had nearly lost a couple of times whenever he hadn't used Kirlia, it still gave his Pokemon plenty of experience battling a wide range of different Pokemon, especially ones from other regions. It was the sheer amount of time it was taking to get to Saffron that was starting to agitate him.

Walking with a lot of battles should of let him cover this road in a week at the most, and that was allowing breaks in between each battle. The road between Cerulean and Saffron was short, one of the shortest in the entire Kanto Region. Yet, here he was battling another trainer a week into his trip, and he was barely HALF WAY!

Ask watched as Baltoy easily knocked out a Pidgeotto with Ancient power, not because it was weak, but because it looked like it hadn't properly rested in a week. It feathers were messy and dirty, it could barely attack or defend, and flying looked like a it was in near constant strain. It was the same with most of Pokemon he came across and he was going to do something about it.

It was simple enough to send Kirlia and Staryu off into the surrounding forest and cut down some logs, which were then turned into planks, all with the use of Psychic energy. It was also easy enough to start a fire for some Charcoal to write on those planks.

Ash was devious enough to know that you could never have enough money as a travelling Pokemon trainer, especially one that planned to travel to the other regions eventually, which could cost a lot of money if you didn't have a flying type Pokemon. Ash also loved nearly all Pokémon, and sometimes it physically hurt to see them in such sorry states.

But with Kirlia at his side, this was easy enough to fix, if slightly costly for everyone else.

Ash was going to have Kirlia Teleport trainers back to Cerulean city for a good amount of money each time, and since there was literally hundreds of trainers on this Battle Route alone, he was going to have a fairly sizeable amount of cash depending on how long Kirlia could last teleporting to and fro.

His sign, which stated _'Teleporting service, to Cerulean city Pokemon Center and back – 500 Poke dollars'_ was an instant hit. Immediately after releasing Kirlia next to the sign, he had 3 trainers running up to him and asking to transfer money into his account, which he gratefully accepted, and all 3 were gone in a flash.

Healing Pokemon could take anywhere from 15 minutes to 3 hours depending on how exhausted they were, treating injuries could take days if they were severe enough, though most weren't thanks to hardy Pokemon biology and prevention techniques taught to all trainers.

It also depended on Kirlia's psychic Stamina, which was monstrous. No thanks in doubt due to its mother and inheriting some of its power. Kirlia lasted most of the day before needing to rest, but it was also magnificent training for him, as it helped with Teleporting groups of people. Thankfully, Cerulean city wasn't that far away, and Kirlia could make the trip easily with 3 people and under, using only a small amount of psychic energy.

4 days later, Ash admitted to himself that he could of stayed there slightly too long, especially after getting a call from Cerulean City's Police Chief Jenny, who had gotten a call from the Pokemon Center to ask him to stop sending trainers, as they were full and couldn't keep up anymore.

Of course to contact him, they needed to find out his name which would've taken a day or two, which was hard enough, though Ash thought a trainer had asked his name before leaving again and then they would've found his only contact to be Professor Oak, as he didn't have any living relatives left.

Contacting Professor Oak would've taken a good 2 days, as he was always in demand, by many people, most of them important, but Chief Jenny should've been able to have her call streamlined, and afterwards Oak would've gave them his Pokedex contact details as he didn't carry a Pokenav or some sort of mobile device on him.

Ash had been told to stop sending them to Cerulean city, and to send them somewhere else. The only problem was Ash hadn't really been anywhere else that was close by since he was a beginner trainer, and he couldn't send them to Viridian or Pewter because they were too far away and over the other side of Mt. Moon.

Ash just shrugged and packed up, and had continued his journey. He also checked his account balance on his Pokedex and tripped and fell at the sight, before his brilliant idea. He had saved up roughly 25,000 Poke dollars. 10,000 from when he began, and the rest from winning battles and beating Misty and Brock, which was no small amount, amassing to 15,000 Poke dollars.

His usually Poke-Mart stop for essentials was around 4000 Poke dollars, which included food, water, tablets, fire starters and other small things like berries, Poke balls and to update his internet connection on his Pokedex. So he didn't expect so much money, but damn was it nice to be wrong.

Ash had accumulated over 4 days, nearly 50,000 Poke dollars. Which meant Kirlia had teleported nearly 100 people, and Ash knew even more people had just walked straight past without reading his sign. He could barely imagine the amount of money he would've had if more people had taken him up on his offer.

He definitely had enough for TM shopping now, and most TM's could cost anywhere from 3000 to 10,000 Poke dollars so, he still knew he had to use his money sparingly, he had to make sure he always had enough for his supplies, and anything extra he might need.

This was also a time when he cursed being a beginner trainer and not knowing everything about training his Pokemon. An older Gentleman, named Matthew, had accidentally stumbled upon his training spot looking for a place to rest, his Ninetails weary from the constant battling and told Ash something in thanks for sharing his food and company with an old man like himself.

Pokemon could learn other moves without the use of a TM, it just takes longer and constant training. TM's let the Pokémon use the move instantly, though it isn't mastered. Ash was still cursing himself inside his head hours later.

He instantly changed their training schedule, to a full day of learning new moves.

Staryu and Baltoy were asked to learn Psychic from Kirlia, as they could both learn it from TM's and they both needed a stronger psychic type attack other than Psywave and Psybeam. Kirlia finally perfected Shadow Sneak, and could stay in Ash's shadow for longer and longer intervals. The main problem was Ash and Kirlia thinking it was a Dark type move, when it wasn't. Matthew had seen the move used before and laughed when Ash's Pokedex had named it as a Dark type move, apparently, all Pokedex's had this small glitch, and no matter what expert tried to fix it, it had never changed.

Shadow Sneak was a ghost type move, and after some small help from Matthew's Haunter to harness ghost type energy, Kirlia succeeded. Afterwards, Ash asked Kirlia to see if it could learn Light screen, which was the opposite of Reflect, as it stopped Special attacks instead of Physical.

Ash sat with Matthew as they watched his team practice the moves they were learning. Both Staryu and Baltoy were flinging Psychic into Kirlia's developing Light screen, which was coming along nicely. Some of the time, the Psychic attack would break through and grab ahold of Kirlia, who broke it instantly, but sometimes Baltoy would try and fling Kirlia away.

After the third time of Kirlia nearly being flung, it developed into all out war between the 3 Pokemon, with Staryu and Baltoy ganging up on the superior Kirlia, who still won, thanks to Teleport. Training continued on late into the night, until the moon was high and the stars were shining. Eventually, all 3 Pokemon wore themselves out and started relaxing.

Matthew had also released his full team by then, which was Ninetails, Haunter, Pidgeotto and Dugtrio. Ash thought it was quite a nice start to a team, until he was informed that Matthew had this team for almost 20 years.

"What, why?" Ash had to ask, he felt like glaring as Matthew chuckled, but waited patiently. He knew old people always liked taking their time, but this was ridiculous. Eventually the chuckles died down and just turned into a grin.

"Because Ash, some people don't train Pokemon as their main goal in life" and this simple sentence rocked Ash to his core, but Matthew didn't seem to notice as he continued talking. Pokemon was all Ash had known, sure he went to Primary school, where he learned the basics of Math, History and science. But even then most of that was taught around Pokemon, or even focused on Pokemon like History was.

"You see Ash, I started out as a simple accountant that worked in Celadon city, I ran the books, and checked stock prices. Sometimes I was sent to Saffron and always had to hire a guide in case I got attacked by a wild Pokemon, eventually I had had enough of spending money and applied for my trainers license. It was then I caught my first Pokemon, Vulpix, who is still with me as Ninetails now" he explained as Ash watched him brush Ninetails coat.

Ash thought about it and figured it made sense, although 90 percent of people had Pokemon, or eventually got one. Some people just didn't seem to enjoy Pokemon like he did. He knew his Mom hadn't been a focused Pokemon trainer, just travelling with a Pokemon for Journey and experience. She also didn't start until she was 17, and had finished school.

It was also when she met his father, someone he still didn't know the name of. Though he knew the safe inside his mother's closet most likely had the answers he was looking for, and he also knew the code. Every time he went to open it, some feeling just stopped him, like he was intruding somewhere he wasn't welcome yet.

After trading stories back and forth, they both went to sleep, their Pokemon clustered around them, just in case. After all, you never know what lurked in the dark.

Ash woke with a sense of renewed purpose, only to find Matthew gone, leaving no trace of his presence. It didn't really bother him, knowing Matthew was heading towards Cerulean city, but it did seem to spook him in some way, though he couldn't put a finger on how. After all, every time someone had come near enough, Kirlia would always wake him, but today Ash was the first awake, something seemed off about the whole thing.

It was easy enough to wake all 3 of his Pokemon up and clean up the small clearing they were in. Dirt was piled over the embers from the campfire, their trash was sealed into his bag, not that there was much and Ash was ready to go. The only thing they didn't clean up was their morning supplies of food and water, which would be consumed after morning training, and this morning, Ash had something special in mind.

"All right, this morning, we're doing drills. No psychic powers, especially you Kirlia, as that would be cheating and I'll make you do double if you do. Kirlia, your doing side to side jumping first, to help with dodging. Baltoy, your doing some spin training, but using your arms to change course as you spin. Staryu, your copying Kirlia. Get to it" Ash told them and was immediately proud as they got to work with no protests knowing training was a serious business.

Ash watched as Kirlia continued pushing and pushing until he collapsed, exhausted from the physical training. Baltoy and Staryu were a lot better, able to last longer and do more. After a short rest, Kirlia was up and had joined back in.

After they were all finished the exercises he had set them and had a nice rest and filled up on food, it was time to head back to battle route 1, and to transverse the horror that was repetitive battling.

It was only a 10 minute walk back to the main road, where he could already find battles happening despite being so early in the morning. Just as Ash expected, as soon as he had taken only a few steps he was already being challenged. He made sure his mouth was covered by his scarf being grinning with anticipation.

"Sure, let's go Kirlia" he called, Kirlia appeared, teleporting from his shadow to standing in front of him, making it seem like he had been invisible and standing their the whole time. The other trainer, a girl that seemed a few years older scoffed at the simple trick, but released her Pokemon with a small smile.

Ash was gobsmacked when an identical Pokemon appeared, except it had the coloring of a normal Kirlia. Both Pokemon stared at each other for a long moment before turning to their trainers in perfect unison, Ash suspected psychic communication was playing a very large role here. It didn't help when Ash sighed just as the other trainer did to, before scowling at the other in mock frustration.

Both Kirlia and his non-shiny duplicate teleported off to the side, eyes glowing as they communicated. To Ash, it seemed like the non-shiny was slightly deferential towards his Kirlia, showing just a touch more respect. It was something he would have to think on later, it could be important.

The battle then truly began, as they both released their second Pokemon. The girl released a Staravia, while Ash released Baltoy. It was a quick battle, Staravia putting up a good fight thanks to it knowing Steel wing, which injured Baltoy, but in the end Baltoy pulled through with an Ancient Power attack knocking Staravia out of the sky, it ended quickly after that.

It turned out Shirley's, the name of the trainer, Kirlia was female and was about halfway to evolution to Gardevoir. They spoke about their time training their Pokemon, especially the Ralts line and compared notes. It turned out Shirley's Kirlia had a bit of trouble which Ash found weird. Even if his Kirlia was normal, Ash could see plenty of ways to fight with it, but he shrugged it off.

Eventually they parted ways, but not before they registered each others number, Ash knew it could be valuable to have someone with a Gardevoir. They were masters of psychic abilities and seeing the future, as long as they liked their trainer anyway, and maybe Kirlia may need some help sometime in the future.

The rest of the way to Saffron city took Ash just under a week, thanks to his new training regimen and all the battles they had to compete in. It was also just before Saffron city that Ash lost his first battle, even if Kirlia didn't participate. It was the first time he lost and it put a bad taste into his mouth. He had been challenged by a guy that he had noticed had been watching him for a while but had thought nothing of it.

Staryu lost after a slow paced battle against a Dewgong, who easily matched then out performed Ash's water type, matching any psychic attacks with ice type attacks. Ash then sent out Baltoy, and the opposite trainer send out a Nidoqueen. At this point, Ash knew he had been fooled. This guy was obviously a experienced trainer and was probably just out of cash and looking for easy battles to win to gain said cash.

Experienced trainers didn't really battle any of the beginner trainers, as it was a little rude to crush them with the more powerful, experienced team. Usually most of them just flew around battling the gyms and getting ready for the IBC ( Indigo Battle Conference ). If worst comes to worst, they would participate in league tournaments for money, unlike this guy.

As Ash walked away, he promised silently to himself to get revenge. That guy had ruined his winning streak dammit! Not only that, but he had done it in such a way that pissed him off. If it had been another trainer around his level, Ash wouldn't of minded losing, except for the losing part, but that guy was so far above it wasn't funny. Kirlia might of stood a chance against 1 or even 2 of his Pokemon, but 6 like that guy seemed to have.

As Ash crested a small hill, he came within viewing distance of Saffron city, and it was an amazing sight to look at. Towers of multistory buildings stood up from the landscape, as if declaring their intention to touch the sky. All the different colors blending and mixing to create a truly special view.

Saffron city was Kanto Regions largest city, and was built to be so. Not only was it the largest, it was also the busiest and since it lies between Celadon, Cerulean, Lavender and Vermillion, it could receive thousands of people each day for work, trade, Pokemon.

It also had the world's leading Pokemon research company situated right in the middle of it; Silph Company, which was shortened to Silph Co. Silph Co manufactured any and everything that had to do with a trainers day to day life. Ash knew that meant seriously everything, Pokeballs, Potions, Revives, Technical Machines, Master bottles, Master bags and heaps more.

Not only did they have a monopoly on the products, they also continued to bring out new and improved versions, easily demolishing any and all competitors that tried to start up. It's president and founder, Mr Silph who founded the company over 150 years ago was said to have been one of the richest men in the world, and his family line would continue to always be so. Currently, the company was run by Mr Silph Co's great Grand-daughter, Ms Silph, but she liked to be known as Ms Celeste, thanks to the unique color of her eyes.

Silph Co was one of the reasons Ash was coming to Saffron in the first place, as it was holding the Annual Science convention that involved Scientists from all around the world coming to try and market their designs. Scientists from every other region, including each regions premier Professor's themselves all came to this convention, all looking forward to the chance to let loose and talk science.

Any product that was put on display to be sold could be backed by Silph Co for a percentage of the funds and partial ownership. It also let Silph Co come up with new designs for those products. Each year, hundreds of people put up products and were declined due to their 'subparness' compared to other products. It was a brutal marketing strategy, but it worked, as proven each year when the convention was held.

Not only that, it was rumored that this year's convention was going to be bigger and better than ever with the Champions from Kanto/Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh were all going to make an appearance. Not only that, Silph Co was releasing a new kind of Pokeball, though the details were hazy and nothing had been confirmed and it was believed to be mostly rumors.

It was in 3 days, and Ash couldn't wait.

While he might not of been as involved as Gary had been, growing up around Professor Oak for most of your life let you learn certain things. He and Gary, when they were friends all those years ago, always use to help out with any research that the Professor was doing. As 5 to 8 year olds, this mostly meant carrying around small tools to help out and scribbling down any notes the professor asked to be written down.

But the thing Ash loved most were the research trips they undertook. They would go out into the wild and observe wild Pokemon and how they interacted with people, Professor Oak's specialty. It was where Ash learned to love Pokemon, and how to interact with them. He and Gary were practically attached to the Professor's hip most of the time, but as soon as the Professor said it was safe, they would shoot off and start playing with any Pokemon that were around, under the watchful eye of the Professor's legendary Arcanine.

As soon as Ash reached the Pokemon center, he knew that he wouldn't be able to get a room. The whole center was filled with the brim with Trainers, all looking to get their Pokemon healed or get a room to stay in for the night.

He turned around and just decided to get a hotel, it would be far less hassle in the long run, even if it meant spending a little money. Not like he didn't have enough of it at the moment.

 **XXX**

The next 3 days saw Saffron enter into what Ash liked to call Panic mode, himself included. The gym shut down and was emptied, all the occupants and their Pokemon teleporting around the huge city making sure everything was clean, repaired and looking brand new. The whole city was inspected and checked, anything not found to be 'perfect' could get you a rather harsh fine, all under orders from Sabrina, the Saffron Gym leader, and Ms Celeste, who no one disobeyed.

Clothing stores became battlefields for women, while the men formed into groups looking to survive. The large shopping center became so busy that it had taken Ash almost 3 hours just to buy a new outfit, with most of that time being spend in line. It wouldn't do to turn up in shriveled travelling clothes. Though he couldn't say he didn't enjoy it, it was always nice looking at woman trying on dresses, some more scandalous than others as others watched on, envious or jealous faces, covered up with fake words and even faker smiles.

His outfit was simple, a Green and Silver button up long sleeved shirt and black slacks with his Pokeball belt, not to forget his scarf, which he had cleaned and mended to make it look perfect. His shoes were another pair of boots that were leather, which made them look acceptable.

He had brought 3 great balls to clip on his belt, just in case he needed to catch a Pokemon. As he wouldn't be allowed to bring his bag with him, though he knew it was most unlikely. Kirlia would stay inside Ash's shadow constantly, not only for practice, but also as a vigilant watcher. Staying inside the ghostly energies also helped Kirlia deal with the influx of peoples thoughts and feelings his mind had to put up with, and since they were inside Kanto's largest city, that was a lot of different things to block out.

A brawl broke out between 2 different groups of Pokemon enthusiasts with Pokemon collectors on one side and Pokemon Breeders on the other. It became a full on battle when Pokemon were released and started to fire off moves, but was quickly subdued by a powerful Alakazam that appeared silently.

It wasn't the only fight Sabrina's Pokemon had to subdue.

People from different regions clashed almost like clockwork on every hour over trivial things like food, speech and accommodations. Not only that, but religious beliefs were also brought up, which made him roll his eyes as each region believed in different Pokemon.

That was only the first day.

On the second day, the shopping center wasn't just a battlefield, it became an all out war, especially for Pokemon trainers. Pokemon were released and used to gain every advantage possible, Ash included. It was only this way because that very morning, Silph Co President Ms Celeste appeared on TV and gave a press conference explaining everything about the Convention without giving away anything. Her last words became famous in the trainer world, and she would forever be held with reverence.

"Everything in Silph Co's multitude of stores are 50 percent off" were her parting words, said with a small smirk only one who was intentionally causing Chaos could pull off. Ash had instantly spat out his milk from his breakfast before ordering Kirlia to Teleport him back to the Shopping center as every other trainer inside the Pokemon Center erupted out of their seats with cries of war and rushed towards the Shopping center.

It didn't matter to him that he was only half dressed, as he hadn't gotten out of his sleeping clothes yet, all he wanted was to get to the TM selection as soon as possible. It turned out he was one of the first their luckily, but it didn't stay that way for long. Other psychic type Pokemon arriving with their trainers seconds and minutes after he did.

The first to arrive without the use of teleport was an older trainer with an Arcanine, with the use of Extreme Speed, he appeared from out of nowhere, sliding off his Pokemon and running into the store just as Ash walked out, his arms full of TM's without even returning his Pokemon.

Ash quickly went through different Silph Co stores, stocking up on Poke-Food, different Pokeballs and plenty of other things and even things he didn't think he would need.

Within minutes, the area outside the stores was packed with Pokemon all waiting for their trainers to return. Ash watched gleefully from across the other side of the shopping center as he got his long shaggy hair cut to a more respectable length. It was shaved on the sides and pulled into a Ponyta tail at the back. He also had some light blue dye run through it, as a homage to Kirlia.

That night, while resting inside his hotel room, he went back through the TM's he had brought.

Ice Beam, Solar Beam, Shadow ball, Charge Beam, Signal Beam, Fire Punch, Ice Punch and Thunder Punch. All 8 TM's usually would've cost 10,000 Pokedollars each, but thanks to the half price, only cost 5,000 each, totalling 40,000 instead of 80,000. Ash had to admit, most of them were for Kirlia and Baltoy, since Staryu still had plenty of moves left to learn. They were all 3 use TM's, which was why the price was a bit higher than normal. 1 use TM's usually went for around 5000, while 2 use went for 7500, with 3 at 10,000. Permanent TM's the ones that could be used over and over again went for nearly 25,000 Pokedollars, not something Ash was willing to pay for at that moment.

Signal beam could be taught to all 3 of his Pokemon, while Ice Beam could be taught to Baltoy and Staryu. Charge Beam could be taught to Kirlia and Baltoy along with Shadow Ball. The 3 elemental punch's were for Kirlia alone though, as they would come in handy against a huge number of trainers. Solar Beam was for Baltoy alone.

There was a lot more TM's he wanted to get in preparation, but decided not to. While he was starting to think about what kind of team he wanted, he was having trouble thinking of how he would obtain certain Pokemon.

Ash's plans were slowly starting to show fruit, and he couldn't help but be excited.

The next day, Ash woke up late, at nearly 11 am. But it didn't matter since the convention didn't officially open until 1. As a normal trainer, Ash wouldn't have been able to get in since it was for Scientists and certain members of the community only. But Ash was 'Friends' with Professor Oak, who had promised Gary and him to take them to the next one that showed up in Kanto, as such, he would be meeting them both in front of the Silph Co building.

It was Gary though that brought a frown to his face. After receiving Ralts, he honestly thought Gary would've been waiting outside ready to battle him, but he had disappeared. Ash than expected to run into him around Cerulean city, since they seemed to be travelling around the same pace but once again, he was a no show. Ash just hoped Gary and him were still on their no speaking terms, it would be better off.

"Hi Professor" Ash said as he walked up to Professor Oak and Gary. Like him, they were dressed somewhat more fancily though the Professor still had his lab coat on. Gary was dressed in a purple button up long sleeved shirt and black jeans. Just like Ash, Gary had grown a little and seemed more mature. He also had 6 Pokeballs on his belt, and most likely had a full team.

"Ash" Professor Oak replied. Gary didn't even glance in his direction, something he was completely fine with. Ash figured he should at least thank the Professor for bringing him along, especially after what he had said all those years ago, something he was starting to regret.

"uh, Thanks once again Professor, this means a lot" he managed to mumble out. The professor didn't reply, just chuckled which made Ash sigh in relief, though he shot a scowl at Gary who scoffed. As soon as they stepped up to the door to the Atrium to the Silph Co building, they were met with intimidating security guards who slowly waved a black rod up and down all 3 of them.

"Clear, your free to go in. Enjoy your day" said the guard in what was most likely his best bored monotone voice. But Ash could feel the question in the tone that was directed at Gary and himself. They were just kids, why would someone like Oak invite them along.

They were guided to their seats by Professor Oak and were told to sit quietly before he left. Ash was thankful the Professor's seat was between them, and that Ash was on the end so he didn't have to talk to anyone. Ash watched as the Atrium was slowly filled up over the next hour as more and more people filled up the huge room.

Finally the room seemed to be full, and as the lights dimmed, noise completely died down as everyone's attention turned to the stage. As one, the crowd looked up at the stage, where 3 podiums stood as easily recognizable people stepped out onto it.

The first was Ms Celeste, who was followed by Professor Oak, who was followed by Lance, Kanto's Champion, after that came Saffrons Gym leader Sabrina and 3 scientists who Ash couldn't recognize. Ash couldn't help himself as he stared at someone who was probably one of the strongest trainers in the world; Lance Drake. The champion 7 years running and strongest of the elite 4, not only that, but he was one of the foremost experts on Dragon types, carrying nearly an unbeatable team that consisted of only Dragon types.

He was someone Ash wanted to be like, and as Ms. Celeste stepped towards the podium, he reaffirmed his promise to himself.

"Welcome all, as most of you should know. I am Celeste Silph, better known as Ms. Celeste. Behind me is Professor Samuel Oak, Kanto's regions leading Professor and foremost Pokemon Expert. Standing next to him is someone you should all know, Champion Lance himself, Dragon Master, the Scaled Mountain" she cried as the applause started. Pokemon scientists and inventors most were, but everyone in the room loved Pokemon and you could tell from the cheering. Both the Professor and the Champion bowed slightly in gratitude of the applause.

"Not only that, but in the front row of the seating. We have some very special guests. I would like to introduce you all to Professor's Elm, Birch and Rowan. Johtos, Hoenn's and Sinnoh's leading Professors, all comparable with Professor Oak" The clapping and cheering started again, lasting nearly as long. 3 people at the very front stood up and turned around and bowed. Ash remembered all 3 from a video call not so long ago, when he received Kirlia as Ralts and except for their clothing, they hadn't changed in appearance.

"2 more introductions left before we can get on with the show. I would like to introduce Steven Stone, Hoenn's current reigning Champion, master of the Steel typing, the Metal Wall" a roar of applause exploded from the silent spectators as Steven Stone stood up and bowed slightly to the crowd. This was Ash's first time seeing the man up close, and he looked a lot different than he did one TV. Steven Stone was dressed impeccably in a steel grey suit with a silver tie. His hair was grey and combed neatly, not a strand out of place and he had six pokeballs Ash got a peek of stitched to the inside of his suit jacket.

"And lastly, Sinnoh Regions new Champion and the second youngest to reach that title, Cynthia Camilla, Pokemon Queen, the Shining Mirror" Ash jolted in his seat as he gazed upon Sinnoh's champion, a face that was perfectly identical to the one in his dream all those weeks ago. Cynthia had yellow blonde hair and was dressed completely in black. She had 2 sets of Umbreon ears attached in her hair while her 6 Pokeballs were strapped to the inside of her arms with 3 on each side and she was only 17 years old.

And, maybe the most important thing to the crowd, she was stunningly gorgeous.

The crowd rushed to their feet, men whistling and woman clapping, even the other 2 champions clapped. It was no small feat to get to the Champion position at just 17 years of age, Lance himself was 20 when he reached it, Steven 22. But one of the things Ash was most curious about was the fact she was the SECOND youngest to reach the title, that meant someone even younger than her had become a champion in one of the regions and by the forlorn look that Ash caught flashing across Professor Oak's face, he knew who it was.

Ash wondered for a second if it was the professor himself who had been the youngest before shaking that thought away. Professor Oak was known as 15 year Oak for a reason, after reaching the title at 19 years old, he sat supreme for 15 long years rebuffing every challenger with ease until in a monumental battle still talked about today, he lost.

As Cynthia sat down, the rest of the crowd following her lead, Ash blinked as their eyes met for a fraction of a second, and since he was only sitting 4 rows behind her. He definitely knew he wasn't mistaken, maybe it had just been a coincidence. He shrugged to himself.

"Alright let's get the show on the road. Our first presenter, Mr Takio" The crowd clapped politely as everyone walked off stage. After a few seconds, a large white screen slowly fell from above and started playing images as a hunchbacked scientist walked on stage nervously rubbing his glasses, Ash felt like falling asleep already.

It was only a minute or 2 later when Professor Oak joined the front row of seating, sitting with his fellow Professor's along with Lance who sat with his fellow Champions. Both were immediately drawn into conversations that were held in whispers. Soon after, Professor Birch turned around and shot Ash a discreet thumbs up, making him jerk in surprise, but Ash managed to hide it well enough. He wondered what they could've been talking about.

Time passed and Ash was seriously bored, while most of the ideas were excellent and were sure to help the Pokémon regions, he also seriously doubted some of the more...advanced ideas that were brought forward. Ash's eyes started closing on their own accord, but he shook his head like a Growlithe to try and keep himself awake. Ash honestly tried to stop himself from falling asleep, but the constant speeches were making him seriously drowsy, like a Yawn had been performed on him. He jerked himself awake once again as he noticed his eyes had been closed and quickly glanced around, everyone around him was paying attention to the stage, including Gary, thankfully.

His eyes drooped once, twice and before he could stop himself, he was asleep. Oblivious to the speeches and new technology that was being spoken about on the stage. He would never notice the extra people starting to gather along the ridges of the room, nor the devices being carried on their backs, and had he been awake, he might've questioned how the extra people had gotten in, knowing the doors had been shut.

He would never take note of the bad feeling that had started churning in his gut.

 **XXX**

Ash jerked awake at the loud sounds of cheering happening around him and as he glanced around groggily, he noticed everyone was standing and clapping. He was still half-asleep, but as he glanced up at the stage, he noticed Professor Oak and Ms. Celeste standing together at one of the Podiums. Ash hurriedly rubbed his eyes to force himself to wake up quicker, and winced as his neck cricked in displeasure of his sleeping position.

"-And as such, together in conjunction with Professor Oak, Silph Company has developed a brand new Pokeball called the Masterball, originally, this was a secret Project, but nosey reporters have forced our hand" said Ms. Celeste. People laughed and clapped as Ash thought over the words just spoken with his half awake mind. 'Masterball' was a very odd name for a Pokeball, especially if they named it for the connotations it implied. Ash had obviously missed most of the speech, but from the name alone, he could guess at how well the Masterball worked.

"The Masterball Ladies and Gentlemen" Ash watched as Ms Celeste pressed a button on the remote control she was carrying. A small hole in the stage opened up, and a metal cylinder with glass surrounding a Pokeball slowly rose from inside the hole.

The Masterball was spherical in shape, the same as other Pokeballs. The top half was purple with 2 pink circles and had a white capital M just above the release button. The bottom half was pure white and had no contours or protrusions.

It looked grand, fit for a King or Queen. Ash was starting to wish that was Kirlia's Pokeball.

"We have only made 3 Masterballs, the first 2 were made to validate that the Masterball has a 100 percent catch rate. We gave the first to Champion Lance, so that he could go and capture a Dragon type to prove that it could catch ANY Pokémon, even the legendary Dragon types without weakening them or even battling them, it was a total success, as he captured a Zweilous, a particularly feisty Dragon type.

The second, we gave to Professor Oak, and it too was used to capture a troublesome Pokémon, this time a rampaging Snorlax. The Masterball, once again succeeded without the need to battle, capturing the enraged Pokémon with a single throw. The Masterball will lead the way to Safety for every Region, and since these Pokeballs will only be used in defence of the Region, I am sad to say we wont be mass producing them, all records have been purged from every database, with the only Blueprints being kept in a secure location, guarded 24 hours a day by an Elite team of Pokémon Rangers".

Ash winced as instant uproar occurred. Even he could admit he was feeling a little annoyed at the announcement, but he could certainly understand the reasons. If Masterballs were to be mass produced, it would make catching Pokemon absurdly easy, there would be no challenge, and it would forever change the world, and certainly ruin a lot of things. On the other hand, they could save so many lives by letting trainers have them, no more getting killed by an enraged Slaking or Gyarados, just throw a Masterball to save yourself.

Ash honestly found himself torn on which side he should support. But it shouldn't rea-

 _*Ba dump, Ba dump*_

It was the sound of a heartbeat, his own heartbeat, which was suddenly pounding at a snails pace inside his chest as everything seemed to slow down around him. It was all Ash could hear, every single pound magnified until it drowned out all other noise. Not through his ears, they were occupied with the steady background noise of conversations and laughter coming from the people around him as they discussed their views about the Masterball, but through his own chest where the sound seemed to travel upward towards his head where it echoed back and forth in warning.

Everything seemed to have slowed down to a snails pace as his head turned centimetre by centimetre towards the aisle, where a body dressed in purple and black seemed to be sprinting through syrup right next to him, heading towards the stage. He could feel his eyes widening minutely as what seemed like days passed, but was only milliseconds as he registered what the person was wearing over the black and purple clothes.

Ash didn't recognize anything that was strapped to the mans chest, except for 4 red sticks that looked exactly like hotdogs, in shape, size and colour. Along with them was red and blue liquid that seemed to be right in the middle of mixing, just about to come into contact with a yellow liquid that was sitting between them.

Ash couldn't even scream a warning as he watched in slow motion as the persons thumb pressed the red trigger down micrometre by micrometre. The beating in his chest seemed to intensify, every beat a turbulent push from within as if is heart was trying to escape from his chest just as time seemed to return to normal.

"FOR THE NEW WORLD" the person screamed as he finished pushing the detonator right as he ran past Ash, who was barely 50 Centimetres away from him.

There was a half a seconds silence before the explosion went off, and in that half second, Kirlia appeared like an avenging God, teleporting right onto Ash's lap, eyes alight with unrestrained psychic energy, manifesting a shield around him with all its protective fury.

The explosion appeared as though a fist of orange flame was suddenly expanding from the bombers chest, billowing outwards in a blinding flash, as the huge ball of fire bulged outwards and though he was safe from the initial blast thanks to the psychic shield, a concussive wave of force also blasted out and knocked Ash and Kirlia backwards with tremendous force shattering the psychic bubble of energy. Ash felt himself flipping end over end and last thing he saw before blacking out was the window rapidly approaching.

 **XXX – Honestly thought I should leave it here, but I haven't reached my word count yet :(**

Ash woke as Kirlia slapped him, probably not the first time either. They were outside the building, and he was laying on the sidewalk of the street the Silph Co building was built upon. Ash's whole body felt like one giant bruise and it took him 4 tries to stand to his feet, even then he was unsteady and he could barely think, as if his brain was drunk. His left arm was also shooting of spasms of pain every time he shifted it, so it was probably broken as well.

Ash's ear's were ringing and he had spots dancing across his eye's and he felt like giggling like a little child but restrained himself as he stared at the bottom floor of the Silph Co building. Smoke was billowing outwards from the broken windows and Ash could feel the heat emanating from within. He blink as a sudden stinging sensation came from his left eye, he slowly brought his hand up and rubbed his eye and as he drew it away, he caught sight of crimson liquid staining his hand.

Blood.

He was bleeding, and it was from a head wound, which wasn't good, but he had more important stuff to worry about. Like finding Professor Oak or Ms. Celeste, hopefully Kirlia wasn't the only Pokémon that had protected someone. 3 Champions were there, surely one of them had noticed something was wrong before it happened and had reacted accordingly even if they had been facing in the opposite direction. Even then, Professor Oak must've noticed something was wrong and tried Protecting everyone as he was up on the stage, able to see the bomber running straight towards him and Ms. Celeste.

Ash stumbled towards the revolving glass door, leaning heavily against the wall. The glass door was shattered and as he entered, the sight before him made him feel like puking. There, just inside the door was a heavily bleeding security guard, the same guard that had scanned him with the black probe when he had first entered. It looked like the guard had been slammed heavily against the wall and attacked by a Pokémon, as one of his legs were missing.

Ash thanked every Pokémon God he could think of he had Kirlia stay within his shadow as much as possible.

Ash was careful to step over the body, he wasn't sure if he would be able to stand again if he tripped. He raised a hand to massage his temple as it gave off a sharp stabbing pain, and ignored the building headache as much as he could. Kirlia was walking in front of him, protectively, to watch for any trouble. A blast of psychic energy quickly removed the flames that were blocking the entry way into the atrium.

Ash tried to keep his eyes forward as they walked into the atrium, but he couldn't help glancing around at all the bodies lying still, devoid of life. As he stared at where he had been sitting only minutes previously, and could only just stop his stomachs contents from rising in his throat. Body parts were strewn across the area, not just those of the bomber, but parts of people that had been sitting closest.

Red.

It was everywhere, and covered everything, most of it wasn't even dry yet and most likely still warm. He glanced down and saw that he was standing in a pool of blood. He felt his stomach heave and quickly bent over to empty it, not caring that some ended up on his shoes, they were already being thrown out anyway.

As he straightened up, he caught a glance of someone he couldn't believe was down.

Ash hurried over as fast as he could, and knelt down next to the person who was leant up against the wall. Luckily the persons chest was moving so he was still alive. Ash couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him, even if it hurt his chest.

Steven Stone was unconscious and it seemed someone had placed him here. Ash thought for a few seconds before doing the only thing he could, he released one of Champions Pokémon, hopefully it was one that would listen before it attacked.

A flash of red light and a huge Metagross appeared, it tensed for a moment before bending down over Steven ignoring everything around it. Ash suddenly realised this probably wasn't the best decision he had ever made, if Metagross went on a Rampage because Steven had been injured he was done for as was everyone else still alive in the building.

Metagross suddenly turned and stared at Ash, who met the glowing red eyes as resolutely as he could, not knowing what was happening. Kirlia quickly stepped forward with its own orange eyes glowing as they psychically contacted each other. Ash heaved a sigh of relief as the red eyes turned from him to Kirlia but straightened up again as the red eyes turned back to him. Ash decided to start talking.

"We were attacked and a someone committed suicide by blowing themselves up with a bomb. A lot of the people that were sitting in the front row are unconscious, but a lot are also missing. I found Steven here like this, and I haven't moved him in case something goes wrong. I released you to see if you could help with protecting everyone and putting the fires out" Ash rushed the words, but Metagross seemed to understand as it gave him a slow nod before turning back towards Steven.

Ash walked towards the stage and found the glass casing that was holding the Masterball shattered and the ball gone. Ms Celeste and Professor Oak were also no where to be seen along with all the other Professors and the other 2 champions.

It was then Ash discovered the huge hole in the back wall of the Atrium where it seemed people had come through. Stepping through it, it was easy enough to discover which direction everyone went, as smoke was starting to be seen up above the residential area that lead to the outskirts of Saffron city, towards Lavender town.

Was this the life a trainer lived? A happy tragedy? The stone buildings around him couldn't muffle the long howl that penetrated the air, scattering flying types and scaring them into taking flight. Something was stirring across the region, something was coming, and it was going to be big.

Was it Change? Adventure? More Tragedy? Or an Opportunity? Maybe some, maybe all?

Was more blood going to be spilled? Like the drilling company inside Mt Moon, slaughtered by an enraged Pokémon, killing countless people in retribution.

Were more innocents going to be harmed? Like the people inside the Atrium of Silph Co, who hadnt done anything wrong. Who were just living their lives, content and happy, there to show off their projects and life work.

Whatever was coming, Ash needed to be ready. He knew no one was going to be left out. If he was going down, he was going down fighting. Running would only last so long, and hiding was a temporary solution at best. Standing his ground was his best option, taking anything thrown at him and delivering twice as much back.

Ash hurried as he followed the trail of destruction out of the city, but he wasn't in the best condition at the moment. As he followed the road, it turned from tar to gravel to dirt quickly, but that was when he came across the first battle.

A Kadabra was battling a Magnemite, Thundershocks and Sonic-Booms travelled at breakneck speeds as they slammed into the Kadabra's Light screen which was starting to buckle under the pressure. Ash was quick to help, he assumed the Kadabra was one of the good guys Pokemon, since Saffron held Sabrina, the Psychic type Gym leader.

"Kirlia, _Teleport_ than _Psychic_ on Magnemite, then use _Hypnosis_ once its down" Ash wasted no time, and neither did Kirlia who performed perfectly. Kirlia teleported behind the Magnemite and slammed it with a Psychic attack. The Kadabra took the opportunity to hit it with a _Psybeam_ quickly stunning it even more for revenge before Kirlia's Hypnosis took effect, putting the Steel/Electric type into a deep slumber.

Considering Ash had no effective way to keep the Pokémon constrained, he decided to bury it, hoping that it would hamper the Pokémon if it woke up before it was found by any authority figures. He would remember where, and if he didn't, well Kirlia would. A quick word to Kirlia saw the Magnemite buried 3 feet under quickly.

Ash turned around, but the Kadabra was gone, leaving him no choice but to follow the path of destruction that cut right through the woods. He needed to get to Professor Oak, it was the least he could do considering how awful he had been previously.

It wasn't very long before the air was filled with dense black smoke, and though he couldn't see any fire's yet, he could certainly feel them as the forest was heating up. He was just thankful for the dense tree's that would block most of it for now, at least until they all caught alight.

He and Kirlia plunged into the thickening smoke, Kirlia putting up a Light screen and Reflect combo to help keep most of the smoke and any subtle attacks away. What did get through was kept away thanks to Ash's scarf, which still covered his mouth and would continue to do so if he had any last words to say about it.

As they continued forward, sounds of battle started to drift back towards them, sounds of explosions and the sounds of tree's cracking and breaking under whatever damage was done to them, unable to handle the strain. Even with Kirlia beside him, and Baltoy and Staryu on his belt, he continued to get increasingly more nervous the closer they walked, as the damage to the surrounding forest grew more severe.

Just Ash was about to step through the final bush, the Psychic energy around them flared up, changed colour, than broke all within a single second, shattering like glass. Ash had no time to react as a Golbat rushed towards him mouth dripping with poison, but it got no closer than 3 feet away from Ash before Kirlia had it wrapped in psychic energy and was slamming it into the ground.

A loud hissing noise jerked Ash away from the bouncing Golbat and he glanced around to see a large Arbok curled and ready to strike. Ash stumbled backwards in shock and fear just in time as it struck, its fangs crackling with yellow light, what was unmistakably the Thunder fang attack. The attack was once again stopped by Kirlia, but this time it was the Golbat itself that was thrown straight into the attack. A crackle echoed briefly before the Golbat was lit up by the Electric attack, knocking it out instantly.

Ash hurried backwards to safety and released Baltoy at the same time. Baltoy didn't even wait for a command, as it used Ancient Power immediately upon its release which smacked straight into the Golbat and Arbok and hurled them backwards into the clearing which Ash quickly stepped into so he wouldn't be ambushed again after quickly releasing Staryu.

It was a war zone.

There was only 6 Pokémon in the clearing, 11 including his 3 Pokemon that were out and the Arbok and Golbat. On one side stood the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, with her Garchomp standing in front of her protectively. Right next to her was Lance, the Kanto/Johto champion and Professor Oak, with Dragonite and Alakazam in front of them respectively. All 3 were scowling and their Pokemon were mirroring them with aggressive stances.

On the other side stood 6 people, all dressed in Black and Purple. The leader, who was an older man with glasses was standing in front, he had a powerful Magmorta and a hulking Rhyperior standing in front of him, tinged with blackness covering certain parts of their bodies. Not only that, they were clearly only being held back by that mans will, as they were straining and snarling at the opposing Pokemon. Ash knew they would kill him and his Pokemon almost instantly, and that he stood no chance.

Maybe he shouldn't of followed.

Standing directly next to him was a woman with crimson red hair, also dressed in Black and Purple, but the front of her clothing was decorated with a red R. Her face, along with the 4 people standing behind her was covered in some sort of black mask, hiding their identities. Standing in front of her was a Honchkrow that was native to the Johto region, it was also a Dark/flying type.

As soon as Ash stepped through, all heads turned and looked at him. The Arbok reared up, preparing to attack again when it was called off with a sharp call from the red head. After one last menacing hiss, it quickly slithered back to her and curled around her protectively.

"ASH DON'T LET THE POKEBA-" was all Professor Oak got to yell out before a sharp crack and hiss cut him off. Ash couldn't even catch sight of whatever it was until it was hitting Staryu, who had just jumped In front of Kirlia. It was a black Pokeball with red markings and silver protrusions surrounding the release button. Ash wanted to scoff at the sight, everyone knew trainers pokemon couldn't be captured, but he felt his heart clench and leap into his throat when Staryu disappeared in a burst of black light.

The ball didnt even shake a single time as it was reeled back towards the shooter by a thin strand of cord attached to the rear end of the pokeball, like some sort of harpoon. The strand was connected to some sort of vaccum/gun thing that was held in the persons hands. The masked person looked triumphant for a second before all hell broke loose in the prevailing silence.

Magmortar seemed to finally have enough of the posturing. It let out a bestial roar as the temperature skyrocketed rapidly. It charged directly at Professor Oak with a cloak of flames starting to cover it in what Ash recognized as the move Flare Blitz. It had only travelled across half of the medium sized clearing when it was met with a solid wall of Draconic blue and red in the form of Cynthia's Garchomp who had used Giga Impact to stop its charge dead.

To Ash, it seemed they were equal in power as they didn't move for a second before the Magmortar took a single step back as it launched its fist in a Dynamic Punch that launched the recovering Garchomp backwards straight onto its back as it had been caught straight in the chin in a perfect upper cut.

If there was one thing you could always rely on the Magmar line for, it was its lust for battling.

At the exact same moment, 2 Ice beams similar in size struck against each other inches away from the bellowing Magmortar causing an explosion of ice and light sheen of mist to cover the field. Icy shrapnel attempted to lash out from the blast, but the intense heat emitting from the Magmortar caused it to melt and thicken the mist.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted one of the masked assailants duck into the cover of the forest before starting to run, 2 black Pokeballs in hand and some sort of machine strapped to his back. Ash couldn't let that thug escape, he had to get Staryu back, he HAD to!

Just after he had taken a single step, the sensation of teleportation overtook his senses briefly. He was startled for only a second as he saw the running man only a few metres ahead of him. He was surprised to see Baltoy next to him, but he returned him leaving just Kirlia out.

The chase was on.

 **XXX**

 **Finished, hope you all enjoy it! Sorry for the wait! PM or review any questions, mistakes that you have/find.**

 **For those who have read Sand and Iron, the next chapter will be coming out in the next day or so!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is chapter 4 guys, enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon nor do I intend to make any profits from this, all hail the original writer.**

 **Chapter 4: Duels and Decisions**

It took Ash exactly 6 steps to realize he wouldn't be able to chase the thug for very long, all thanks to his face meeting the ground and his body reminding him of all it had gone through in the last hour. Ash grit his teeth and quickly pushed himself up using only his right arm, his left was cradled into his stomach like a newborn baby, held protectively from receiving any further damage.

He ignored the sounds of yelling and battling coming from behind him, he had to get Staryu back, and nothing was going to stop him.

He pushed off and was starting to pick up speed when he saw something flicker out of the corner of his eye, he dove forward, twisting as he did so, successfully landing upon his back to protect his arm. He met the earth with an audible thump as a Zubat streaked through with a Wing Attack where his neck had been previously.

It didn't get very far.

It seemed Kirlia was finally fed up with Pokemon targeting Ash at every opportunity. Unrestrained psychic energy lit up around Kirlia like a shroud as it followed the Zubat with its eyes for several seconds. They both watched as it came around for another shot at him when Kirlia was suddenly gone and had reappeared on the Zubats bat, and slammed a Thunderpunch attack straight into the back of its head, knocking it out cold with the super effective attack and launching it into the ground.

Normally, Ash would guess Kirlia had no where near the experience with the move nor the body strength to physically smash the Zubat like that despite the training they had started. It had been after all, under a day since Ash had taught Kirlia the 3 elemental punch's through his purchased TM's. But emotions were a powerful thing, doubly so for the Ralt's line that connected to the emotions on a deeper level, especially of those around them.

Ash was up and running before the Zubat had even hit the ground, Kirlia reappearing next to him every few seconds using teleport, knowing it wouldn't be able to keep up with its shorter legs and it having only the minimum of physical stamina.

It didn't take long for Ash to catch up to the thug, even with his injuries which surprised him. The device upon the thugs back was obviously not light, not if it let Ash catch up this easily. As he looked a bit closer, the thug was running at a good jogging pace, and Ash could see 2 black Pokeballs hanging on the guys belt, and a lot more juggling around inside the machine, adding even more weight. Ash just counted his lucky stars his arm was injured and not one of his legs, or all this would've been impossible.

Then again, maybe he wouldn't of lost Staryu if one his legs had been injured.

Both Ash and Kirlia flinched as an impossibly loud roar sounded out from behind them, and to Ash it sounded like the Magmortar had finally been defeated or was at least in great pain. The thug was 15 meters and closing rapidly just in front of him and cursed as he heard it too and spun around to check the commotion, startling both himself and Ash as they nearly collided.

"Fucking Brat" the thug shouted as he stumbled sideways, and some small part of Ash felt like grinning and whistling an innocent tune but he hurriedly pushed that part to the back of his mind, though he did let a smirk slip onto his face.

Ash didn't even get a chance to challenge the guy for the Pokeballs before the thug was running off in a dead sprint even with the heavy machine on his back, and it was a speed Ash knew he couldn't match, all because of his stupid injuries. He felt like collapsing, but an iron will, the one that tempered his emotions urged him on and not to give up. He grit his teeth and started running at his fastest pace, dogging the guy with his teeth grit and his chest heaving.

He had, for a single second, thought about getting Kirlia to teleport him, but he was starting to notice the strain that Kirlia was starting to show, and Ash knew it was because of that damn bomb blast he had been protected from. Normally Kirlia would still be in near perfect shape at this point, but Kirlia had to have used at least half its reserves protecting Ash at the very beginning. Add in the several battles it had been in, and this constant teleporting, and Kirlia was finally showing some strain without meditating to regain any energy.

Ash was slowly, inch by inch gaining on the thug when the guy turned around and gave him an ugly smirk just before he blew a shrill whistle, which seemed extra loud in the near silent forest. They both waited for nearly a minute before something finally happened and Ash was thankful for the short rest, despite its origins.

Ash mentally cursed, but felt his anger grow as another 2 thugs rushed into the forest, following a Raticate that seemed on the edge of being feral and needing to be put down. The guy he had been chasing seemed to think so to because he edged carefully around the Pokemon and took off again, throwing a smug grin back towards Ash on his way, feeding Ash's anger even more.

"We're not letting you get any further punk, prepare to be put down" shouted one and Ash glared at them both as the other one nodded in agreement, cruel smile's twisting their lips. They were both dressed in their Black and Purple uniform, but both had the red R on the front. One was female, and the other male.

"Raticate, maul the trainer with Hyper-fang" shouted the girl eye's lighting up in glee. Ash's anger grew once again, nearly reaching boiling point, but he wasn't quite there yet. The feral Raticate lunged forward, front teeth gleaming white heading straight for Ash's throat. Ash felt a single second of fear before calm confidence washed over him.

This was Pokemon Battling! He lived for this, trained for this everyday with his team and he wouldn't lose to some stupid grunts! Especially when they were standing in the way of recovering one of said team. HE WOULDN'T LOSE!

Ash watched with his calm confidence as Kirlia stepped forward with a single step, a smirk growing in his face, but kept his clenched fist behind his back, and his troubled thoughts locked tight under mental chains.

Just as the Raticate was closing in on him, Kirlia seemed to sigh as he threw his hands forward in a powerful Psychic attack, easily overwhelming the Raticates pathetic lunge. The attack blasted the Raticate straight into its owners chest, knocking them both over. It was unconscious easily, and its owner winded.

The other..Grunt... started laughing and nearly doubled over as he seemed to wipe fake tears from his eyes as his hand drifted to his Pokeball that rested on his belt. But Ash could see better, the grunts eye's had never left Kirlia and the cruel smirk never left his lips.

"Hahaha Oh my god, you got beat by some weakling kid, no wonder your one of the weakest grunts in Team Rocket" the guy chuckled, talking to his partner, while a lightning bolt flashed though Ash's mind at the mention of Kanto's most feared Criminal team. He knew he had seen those red R's before!

Team Rocket had been disbanded almost 13 years ago, though no one ever figured out who its leader had been. It was rumored a single trainer had torn the criminals apart, leveling the whole empire in a single week, destroying everything they had worked for. This trainer was never identified, and Team Rocket seemed to vanish off the face of the earth, disappearing into history.

"Well, seems like it's my turn now, your pretty strong kid, maybe you'll beat me, in like 30 years. Demolish him Koffing, use Shock Wave!" The guy joked, then shouted suddenly. The koffing seemed to draw power in for a single second before a yellow wave of crackling energy was emitted in a rough circle from the Koffing's body, though it didn't seem very strong.

"Shadow Sneak, Thunderpunch" Ash muttered under his breath. His shoes were rubber soled, so he was disconnected from the earth preventing the attack from harming in. Kirlia easily dodged the attack by entering into the shadows and popping up behind the Koffing inside the attacks radius.

Then the grunt did something unexpected.

"HA! Koffing, Explosion" The Koffing erupted in ball of fire and smoke, just enough to cover both of the Pokemon. From what Ash could see and had heard, that was a pre-planned strategy. It was certainly effective, and usually it would've worked. But ever since Nugget bridge where he had used the same strategy, he and his team also had a pre-planned strategy for this exact tactic. If any of his team ever heard the opposing trainer say 'Explosion or Self Destruct' they were to use Protect instantly or just teleport away.

"WHAT, WHY DIDN'T THAT WORK, can't believe that didn't work" the grunt yelled than muttered as they both saw Kirlia standing their unharmed and the Koffing fainted. The Koffing disappeared in a flash of red light and Ash started walking forward to walk between the defeated grunts when he was stopped suddenly by a hand on his shoulder, with a tight grip.

"What, just cause you beat us in a battle makes you think we'll just let you go past us? I think not, we'll just beat you with our bare hands!" The grunt said cockily. Ash just sighed at the stupid grunts. Grunts really was the best name for them. Who was the one with the un-fainted Pokemon right now? And a Psychic type on top of that

"Kirlia, Hypnosis" Ash stated with a roll of his eye's, both grunts fell to the ground asleep. Stupid Grunts.

Ash was just about to start running again when he suddenly thought better of it. His injuries were just getting worse the longer he kept aggravating them and he was exhausted. It was time to use teleporting as his transportation, hopefully Kirlia still had a lock on the Pokeball guy.

"Kirlia, I don't think I can run anymore. Think your up to teleporting me to that scum that stole Staryu?" Ash asked. He watched as Kirlia got angry, most likely feeding off his own emotions as he mentioned Staryu. Kirlia seemed to think for a moment before popping away, letting Ash rest. He didn't know how long he would have, but every second helped.

He gingerly shrugged off his bag and prepared some food for himself and Kirlia after giving Baltoy a Potion just in case. He scoffed down his food with the manners of a Munchlax and waited 5 minutes, then 10 minutes before Kirlia finally returned. He let Kirlia eat before spraying him with one of his only Super Potions, and it seemed to heal some of Kirlia's fatigue as he anxiously waited the 3 minutes the process took.

It felt like he was sitting with Fireworks under his ass, he couldn't keep still. Every second he spent here was another second they could be getting away, Still, it seemed Kirlia was feeling more calm, maybe there was some good news. Plus, he knew just rushing in with no plan could be very detrimental, though it seemed to have worked so far, plus it was what he was best at.

3 minutes later, and Kirlia was finally ready. He palmed Baltoy's Pokeball, he needed a protector while Kirlia was battling. He just hoped nothing went wrong. He stood up, and couldn't help the moan that escaped through his lips as his body vicious protested the movement. While he had been sitting down and resting, his body had cooled down and hardened, making his whole body feel like a punching bag for a Machamp.

Kirlia looked at him in concern for a moment before nodding its head and patting his arm. With one if its small hands. A small smile broke out across Ash's face despite the situation. Kirlia would always have his back, something he couldn't be more thankful of.

A flash of light and he was suddenly standing just inside a tree-line that bordered a small beach. In front of him was a white boat being guarded by 6 people. All 6 were dressed in the standard Black and Purple uniform, but only 3 had the red R on the front. Maybe there was different ranks? But there, one of the grunts without the red R was the one he had been chasing. The machine was sitting down next to him, and 2 black Pokeballs were swinging from the guys belt, one of them being Staryu's. He was so close, just a little bit further and they would be re-united. If something happened to Staryu, Ash didn't know how he would react.

Ash didn't really want to find out.

He discreetly released Baltoy, who was immediately tense as soon as it had formed next to Ash and Kirlia. Baltoy was ready for battle, they all wanted Staryu back, and they weren't going to stop until they got her. From where they were, they watched as the grunts muttered and laughed as they spoke to each other. Barely keeping an eye on their surroundings while the sprinter thug was working to regain his breath.

"Baltoy, I need you to protect me with Light screen and Reflect combo, and add in Protect if anything gets through. If anything sneaks up on me, handle it and knock it out. Everything goes" Ash didn't even receive a reply, instead the protections went up, forming around him in a small box that was only just bigger than him.

Ash closed his eyes and let himself have 3 deep calming breaths. His emotions were on fire and his body was about to collapse. His stomach was a jumble of knots and he was ready to faint from both the physical and mental exhaustion this day had lobbed on him. He let his first breath out slowly after it had built up in his lungs.

All he wanted was his Pokemon back, was that too much to ask for?

He opened his eye's and took his second steadying breath. Once he stepped out into view there was no going back. Could a beginner trainer like him really take on the likes of Team Rocket? His mind flashed to Staryu and knew he didn't have any real choice. Not only that, if all those Black Pokeballs were full of stolen Pokemon. He couldn't just leave them in the hands of Team Rocket, who knew what they would and or even could do with them. It was the sort of thing people told horror stories about when they were sitting around the campfire and laughed about it afterward, well Ash wasn't laughing now.

He opened his eyes and stepped out, his 2 Pokemon loyally on either side of him. The lounging grunts took a moment to notice him, but when they did, they straitened up into the hardened criminals they were, grinning like that spider that had caught the fly. The sprinter scowling at the sight of him.

"Will you walk into my Parlor asked the Spider to the fly" Ash whispered to himself. His body didn't hurt anymore, and he could only feel the faintest trace of exhaustion. If he had been able to look into the mirror at that moment, he wouldn't have recognized himself. His eye's were a light, glowing indigo, his 2 Pokemon mirrored him, eyes lit from within.

"Well, well, well, what do we got here boys and girls. A little rat scurrying around getting itself in trouble. How do we get rid of rats?" He asked those around him. They all looked similar, though he couldn't exactly tell thanks to the masks. They chuckled as one answered the question.

"We squash them" said the other 2 Rocket grunts with a dark grins covering their faces. All 6 were slowly stalking forward. Like a Mightyena stalking a Sawbuck, ready to pounce and devour its prey. Ash stopped walked, Kirlia and Baltoy stopping slightly in front of him. He could feel his heartbeat thudding in his chest at a normal pace, he was calm, yet his rage trembled, itching to be released, sitting on a hair trigger, taunt and ready to snap, he let his Pokemon feel his rage, he could feel them reacting to his emotions, especially Kirlia who seemed to feed off Ash, growing stronger.

He released his last breath out slowly as he raised his hand, palm facing towards the grunts, fingers spread.

"Magical Leaf, Ancient Power" He said with no emotion, though his eyes glowed brighter very briefly. There was no hesitation from his Pokemon, even as they fired upon the grunts who had stopped and stared at him in shock at his command.

3 huge blocks of earth were ripped from the ground beneath them and hurled forward at a blistering pace, but it couldn't match Kirlia's Magical leaf attack. One second there was nothing, the next, at least a hundred leaves materilised, made out of psychic energy and shot forward.

Most of the grunts scrambled out of the way, with an unlucky 2 being blasted backwards thanks to the Ancient power attack. All 6 were littered with a multitude of cuts which covered them from head to toe. Even as the grunts were getting back to their feet, they were already releasing Pokemon. With only 4 conscious, it was better than it could have been with them releasing 2 Pokemon each, totalling 8 Pokemon.

The sprinter hadn't been hit, pity.

Each had sent out a Zubat, as it seemed to be the Rockets main Pokemon. The second Pokemon was different for each one. There was a Poochyena, another Koffing, a Ekans and a Drowzee, which meant a Dark type, 2 Poison types and a Psychic type. The Poochyena might be a problem, but the rest were all Pokemon easy enough to beat, especially when he had 2 Pokemon fighting together.

"BITE, TACKLE, POISON STING, CONFUSION AND ZUBAT, WING ATTACK" They all shouted at the same time. They seemed completely disorganized now that someone actually stood up to them, it was almost pathetic. Grunt's to the core it seemed.

"Kirlia, Double Team, LSR combo and Thunderpunch, take out the Zubat and the Drowzee, Baltoy, another Ancient Power, then use Earth Power, aim for the rest" Ash said to his 2 Pokemon. It was a beautiful sight to behold for a battle fanatic like Ash. Ancient Power rushed forward to cover Kirlia and slammed into the Poochyena, Koffing and Ekans. It knocked the Ekans out and made the Poochyena get hurled backwards while the Koffing was slammed into the ground.

Kirlia had already disappeared into the doubleteam, though Ash could always tell which one was the real one. Kirlia had teleported directly behind the Drowzee and gave it a Thunderpunch to the back of the head, knocking it forward but not out. Another few Teleports had it slamming into Zubats from above and knocking them out cold with a single hit each, all thanks to Kirlia's rapidly improving Thunderpunch.

By then, Baltoy used Earth Power and changed the field. Spire's of rock shot out of the earth, shooting the Drowzee and Koffing upwards and knocking them out. Unluckily the Poochyena dodged the incoming attack, most likely feeling the vibrations as the rock spires travelled upwards towards the surface.

Another quick Thunderpunch from Kirlia put the mutt down easily enough though, and Hypnosis sent the grunts to sleep. A quick Hypnosis quickly put the rest of the grunts into a slumber as Ash slowly walked over towards the sprinter and yanked the 2 black Pokeballs off the thugs belt.

Looking them over, Ash saw they were both water type's, but had no display or any other information except that. A quick press of the release button didn't do anything. So Ash had no way to tell which was Staryu, and which was the other Pokemon. He clipped both to his belt hurriedly as a noise made him jerk his head up, only to see nothing. He tensed before relaxing as nothing happened.

Ash turned around and had only taken 3 steps before he was startled as clapping came from the ship, ruining his hope that these were the only people here and he was alone.

2 People walked out, without masks on. They each had different colored hair, the first had light blue hair, and the other had purple hair, and both were styled differently. The blue haired guy was clapping slowly with a wide smile stretched across his face, but that wasn't the only difference. Their uniforms were different as well. Each had the standard uniform, yet these 2 had silver accents on theirs, outlining the whole costume.

These weren't grunts.

"Bravo, Bravo. A good showing, though they were just stupid grunts. Living up to their rank name I guess. Cannon fodder to the end" said the Blue haired guy and then they both chuckled and were smiling down at him, though he noticed it didn't reach either of their eyes. Ash kept his face carefully blank of all emotions, though his rage was building even more.

WHY COULDN'T HE JUST GET HIS POKEMON AND LEAVE IN PEACE?

"Silent type huh? Doesn't matter, your in the way of Team Rocket. Since the Grunts failed, and there's only us left on the ship guarding the precious cargo, guess it's up to us to do with you. Don't mind if we double battle right? It's only fair since you already have 2 Pokemon ready to battle" said the purple haired guy. Ash felt a beat of excitement. All he had to do was beat these 2 and he could escape with his Pokemon, it was almost a dream come true.

Well, he felt that dream shatter and die as they released their Pokemon. A Houndoom and a Vileplume. These Pokemon looked extremely well trained and were in their prime. Kirlia was battle weary and Baltoy was nearly perfect, it was going to be a tough fight, but if they wanted Staryu, they had to win.

"Well, let us introduce ourselves. I am Executive Proton, and my cohort here his Executive Petrel. We're some of the higher ranked members of team Rocket. What's your name Trainer? So I may etch it with my boot on your tombstone, we'll be needing those 2 Pokeballs back by the way." and then the cruelness came, their faces lighting up in sadistic glee and complete confidence with no hesitation. It almost caused Ash to stumble backwards but he held firm, this was for Staryu.

"Indigo" Ash said. His first word to them. He was starting to feel the fear now, and it was slowly creeping up on him.

"Its truly a pleasure to meet you" they said in sync, with matching smiles and bows. Then their expressions changed in the blink of an eye.

"Dark Pulse", " Sludge Wave" they spat out, expressions of hatred directed at him. Their Pokemon responded perfectly, a ring of Dark energy shot out towards them, slamming into Kirlia's shields and shattering them like glass and blocking the use of Teleport. Kirlia was thrown backwards and was unconscious instantly, blocking Baltoy from the super-effective move by luck alone.

Ash's mouth gaped until the Poison attack slammed into Baltoy's psychic barriers, which, thankfully held, though they did shatter from the force of the attack, but they kept them safe. Ash pushed aside his shock of Kirlia losing so easily and quickly returned him to keep him safe, shrinking the Pokeball and holding it in his hand.

"Ancient Power, Earth Power, LSR Combo and Sandstorm" Ash said as quickly as he could. The Ancient Power shot forward and forced the Pokemon to dodge, giving Baltoy the time he needed to use Earth Power and the LSR combo. At least that's what Ash was thinking. He would escape in the sandstorm, he wouldn't be able to win against these two.

At the last second, a huge green beam of energy slammed through Ancient Power and hit Baltoy dead center. The Solar Beam, because it couldn't be anything else, hurled the levitating Pokemon backwards and straight into the tree, causing a huge crunch sound as it impacted.

Ash returned Baltoy, and ignored the Pokeballs beeping of Critical condition warning that was slahing acorss the front. He had been defeated so easily, like he was a child battling the Champion. There was no contest, these 2 knew from the start they could beat him easily, and they did. They wrecked both his Pokemon, which meant...

Which meant... Staryu, he couldn't escape with Staryu. He hunched his shoulders and forced himself not to cry, he wouldn't give these barstards the glee. He had just lost for his first time, and it couldn't be in a worse place.

His thoughts were interrupted by a dark boot crashing into his stomach, and putting him on his arse. His body flared up from the pain, every single ache and pain rushing back at once, intensifying the pain from the kick so much Ash had black spots dancing across his eyes. The adrenaline was all gone, all he could feel was scared and helpless. He was alone, alone with 2 evil Sick Fucks that were probably going to kill him.

He blinked the tears from his eyes and flinched backwards as a very sharp hunting knife was slowly drawn across his throat in a theatrical manner. Proton and Petrel were kneeling on either side of him cruelling smirking at him with their mouths while their eyes danced with glee at seeing his terror.

"Your good Kid, we can both admit that, just not good enough. Maybe in a few years you could match us, but...well your not going to get that time. Sorry, it's nothing personal, just business" said Proton as he shrugged in an uncaring matter. Yet Ash could see a glint of mockery in his eyes, just waiting for the begging, crying, the moaning he thought he knew was coming. Ready to revel in the emotions he was about to cause. Proton easily unclipped one of the Pokeballs and handed it to Petrel, but didn't reach for the other just yet, just smiling at him.

Ash felt his heart burn in pure fury and frustration. Well, he wasn't going to give it to them. He might've only been 12 years old, but he would face death without showing these snifferly 2 faced sicko's what they wanted to see. He would make his mother proud before meeting her in the afterlife. He could already imagine her hug, her smell, the way she felt. He could already hear everything he wanted to say and talk about, apologize for. He let a small sad smile slip onto his lips underneath his scarf, which thankfully still covered his mouth, just.

A minute or 2 passed as Ash thought about his finals words, waiting for the moment, then it came.

"Stupid fucking brat, ruining my fun. I'm one of the cruelest in Team Rocket you know. I could torture you for months and keep you alive and somewhat healthy. Whatever, say your prayers kid" Proton Snarled as Petrel snickered as he stood up.

Ash watched with a calm heart as the knife inched closer and closer to his throat.

'Mom, I'll be there soon, I can't wait to see you' Ash thought with a smile.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" said a cold female voice. Ash jerked in surprise and so did Proton. The knife nicked his throat, drawing blood. But truly didn't harm him, just adding to the pain already travelling around his body.

He managed to turn his head and saw who had come to his rescue just as he gave up. Standing not 5 meters from them was Sabrina, in all her glory, with a Alakazam at her side. She was in white jeans a belly top that hugged her body. Her Dark green hair was down and swayed slightly in the non-existent breeze.

The last thing Ash saw was a massive sized Psybeam heading straight for the Rocket Executives before blacking out. A single black Pokeball resting on his belt, the other in Petrels hand.

 **XXX**

 _Ash was sitting atop a mountain littered with broken pillars, the blue sky was cloudless and there seemed to be absolute stillness as he looked down at the world from his resting place, legs dangling precariously over the edge. Just sitting here, above the snow storm that seemed to haunt the upper area of the huge mountain made everything seem timeless, as if he was sitting in another world._

 _There was no strife, no battling and no politics. A far different setting than a week ago at this exact spot. Everything was calm and he was up here with just his Pokemon, no megalomaniac trying to take over the world, or in Team Galactic's case, make a new one. No annoying blonde haired champion, though he wouldn't dare say that to her face._

 _He turned his attention to the stone he held casually in his hand, rolling it around and generally playing with it using his fingers. Such an interesting stone it was too, he hadn't used it yet. As he held it up to the sunlight, he could just make out what looked like a DNA helix that glittered all the colors of the rainbow as the sun refracted through it. Usually just looking at it, it only had the color's green and white, but now, as he held it up to the sun, dark blue and orange seemed to dominate over the rest._

 _A peculiar thing, how it seemed to be slowly changing based on proximity the longer and longer it spent around his starter. He had a similar stone sewn into the inside of his scarf, right where his mouth was. He wondered if the rumors were true, he would just have to find out soon wouldn't he._

 _Footsteps echoing in the silence jerked Ash out of his observation._

 _He craned his neck around, wincing as it cracked quite harshly and looked over at the person gesturing at him. The female had long blonde hair and was dressed in full black, excluding the yellow rings around her wrists, ankles and waist, making her look like some sort of human Umbreon. It didn't help she had Umbreon ears attached as hair clips, nor the black fur around her shoulders like an Acranine mane... and she wondered why he sometimes slipped and called her a word he shall never repeat, even if it pissed her off something fierce._

 _As he stood up, he glanced back one more time before sharing a look with his humble guardian. What would it be like to soar the sky's with Gallade by his side..._

Ash didn't even really remember waking up, the last time he had been this awake and coherent was when his body had finally given out on him. He had been stuck in this damn Pokemon Center for 6 days, he was long past healed, thanks to what people called medicine these days. To Ash, it seemed like God's gift in the form of human ingenuity.

He wondered what sort of people actually came up with utilizing Ditto cells as regenerative medicine... and how they discovered that fact in the first place. Ash could come up with some pretty awkward answers, with most of them using Ditto's chronic need to mate as the final answer. Most of the time, Ash felt like cursing his overactive brain until it was a pile of mush.

He couldn't deny that he had been in bad shape when they had brought him in. According to the charts he had Kirlia... borrow, he had a broken forearm, a concussion, multiple cuts and abrasions and a hell of a lot of bruising. Most of his back, from what he could see in bathroom mirror was purple and green, though it had cleared up remarkably fast once the Ditto cells had seen to his more major injuries.

It had still taken him almost 2 whole hours to calm Kirlia down and then, after that was done, reassure him that he wasn't a failure of a Pokemon. If Kirlia hadn't protected him from the bomb blast, he would most likely just be another name on the casualty list.

Luckily, they had gotten both himself and Baltoy to the Pokemon center fairly quickly, all thanks to Sabrina. Baltoy had made a complete recovered, as had Kirlia, and both were itching to get out. They hadn't trained, they hadn't had any battles, they hadn't even been outside this damn room, filled with white tiled floor, while walls, white ceiling, white curtain, white pillows and bed sheets, and the green plant inside the white pot in the corner.

The less said about the small bathroom the better.

Once Ash got out of he, he could happily spend the rest of his life in seclusion If he didn't have to see the color white again. Unluckily, the Ralt's line was primarily white in color, which made him put up with it. Sometimes the irony made him want to bang his head against something hard, but that would probably aggravate the concussion that had been gone for a few days now.

Maybe it was time to plan an escape attempt...

Sending Kirlia to scout and find his stuff would be easy enough, then send him to scout outside for a suitable teleportation spot, then they could be off, easy as that. It might take a little bit more work, and maybe a tad more planning, but that should work.

Better than his last attempt anyway.

There was a knock on his door and it slowly opened up. Ash perked up, maybe they were releasing him? He couldn't wait to get back on the road again. It opened to reveal Professor Oak, who, at the moment, Ash was particularly grateful towards. Professor Oak had covered everything and helped him through the past week, especially coming down hard on the Ace trainer's that were trying to force him into confessing about being a sympathizer for Team Rocket and aiding them in their terrorism.

Sitting in that conference room, metal chair digging into his back, and a old grizzly Ace Trainer scowling at him from across the metal table roughly asking question after question, muttering snide comments about 'Rocket Scum' under his breath the whole time. Eventually the man seemed to enter some sort of rage and started shouting at him to confess for aiding a known criminal organization.

The door to the room had swung open and standing there in his lab coat was one of the scariest sights Ash had even seen. He would never forget the look the Professor had sent the Ace Trainer before shaking his head backwards indicating that guy should get out. Ash didn't know mankind had the potential to use Extreme Speed, though pissing your pants was a shitty downside that came with.

Ash was cleared of all suspected charges, Sabrina herself butting in to help out. But as Professor Oak walked in, Ash had a feeling this was going to be a bad conversation.

"Hello Ash, how are you feeling?" The Professor asked. Ash felt like rolling his eyes at the predictable question. He had been asked that way too much in the past few days, and his answer hadn't changed in the slightest.

"Fine Professor, I'm ready to get back on my journey" Ash replied with a small smile, he really missed his scarf. He wondered where he got the stone in his dream from too... and how it had been sewn into his scarf. He wouldn't trust too many people with that task, hardly any at all actually.

"Good, good. Now I wanted to talk to you about that Black Pokeball you had on you when Sabrina found you. What can you tell me about it?" Professor Oak asked, suddenly serious. Ash had to blink at the change of demeanor, but he understood the seriousness of the situation.

"Uh, that it can somehow capture a Pokemon that's already been linked to another Pokeball, and without any struggle at all. The one I had had a water symbol on the release button, so it held a water type Pokemon inside it, and I had taken back off of one of the Team Rocket grunts after a battle" Ash said. The Professor nodded along with his explanation before shaking his head.

"Silph Co and I have studied the ball, and it seems there a re-verse version of the recently created Masterball. It seems only to be able to catch a Pokemon that is currently being trainer, and is registered to another ball. It had no effect on wild Pokemon what so ever. The one you brought us was the only one retrieved despite numerous efforts to obtain them. Ash, It took me 5 days to open that Pokeball and release the Pokemon inside. I'm sorry to say it isn't your Staryu" Oak said sadly.

Ash felt like freezing, screaming, crying and raging all at once, but he sort of had a feeling that was the case. He had hoped desperately that the Pokemon on the inside was his, but he a feeling deep down it wasn't but he hadn't listened to it. Ash just let out a long exhale of air, keeping any sort of composure he could.

"I... sort had a feeling you were going to say that, you know?" Ash said softly, trying not to cry. One of his Pokemon, gone, maybe forever, with no way to get it back. He needed to be alone right now, but he could tell Professor Oak wasn't finished. He just had to suck it up and deal with his emotions later when he was alone.

"The person's whose Pokemon you returned Ash couldn't be more thankful, and wanted to thank you herself. She's waiting just outside the room. Can I invite her in?" Oak asked. Ash just nodded his head in the affirmative. All he really wanted was to be alone, he didn't need the thanks of some random stranger he didn't know. Well useless gratitude because they themselves couldn't do anything about it.

His thoughts crashed, burned and Hyper beamed themselves as the door opened once again, and a tall blonde dressed in black stepped into the room. A very familiar tall blonde dressed in black stepped in the room. The exact blonde he had been dreaming about only hours before.

Random Stranger? Gurgle.

Useless Gratitude? Spasm.

They themselves couldn't do anything about it? Dying slowly.

Ash had never found himself so embarrassed in his life. He found himself lucky he hadn't said anything out loud. He would've made himself look like a complete fool, then again, he might be able to pass it off as the concussion talking. He was still stuck in the hospital after all, maybe she would've forgiven him?

She was Sinnoh's new champion, and she was hailed as their Pokemon Queen, their shining mirror. It was said she was called that due to her advanced knowledge of nearly all Pokemon, and especially battle tactics. It was the reason she was called the shining mirror, she could take everything thrown at her and dish it back twice as hard.

It was rumored that she went completely undefeated on her way up the Sinnoh League totem pole. No losses to any Gym leaders nor to anyone in Sinnoh's battle Conference nor any of the Elite Four. She beat them all first shot, and every competitor along the way. Sinnoh's region was one of the hardest regions, and that wasn't just applied to their elite four. It was applied to their 'Victory Road' starting point too.

The top 8 trainers from every years battle conference were put in Victory road together, whoever walked out the other end intact won the right to challenge the Elite four, though the winner of the Battle Conference had that right anyway, even if they lost the Victory Road challenge.

Victory Road was a harsh place. Pokemon would attack on sight, they were stronger, more resilient, smarter and more brutal. It was an unforgiving place, no matter what region you were in. Sinnoh's was said to be more difficult because of the Dragon type that lived near the exit to the cave, they seemed to guard the exit zealously.

After beating everyone in her way, she had a close battle with the current reigning champion. It was said to be over an hour long, which was basically unheard of. Pokemon battles were usually quick and decisive, though they tended to take a little longer the stronger everyone got as plans, strategies, evolutions and movesets became more and more advanced. For a battle to take an hour long... the implications were nearly unthinkable.

Ash idly wondered who would win in a Champion VS Champion battle.

"H-hello" Ash stuttered out while he was cursing himself inside his own mind. Hello? He couldn't believe he just started with hello, how awkward could someone get. While he did want to impress her, because let's face, who wouldn't. She is a Champion. He didn't want to become some fanboy. He was a Pokemon Trainer dammit.

Ash mentally counted to ten as she looked him over.

"Hello Mr Ketchum, it's nice to see your awake and healthy" Cynthia said. Ash just nodded with a polite smile on his face. How did he reply to that? He could say thank you he guessed and just expand on that, hopefully he wouldn't revert back to his 8 year old self's habit of blurting out stuff without thinking. Though that had been mostly cured by his mother's death.

"Thanks. I appreciate it. Feels great to be 100 percent again" Ash said with a small smile. He really needed his scarf back. He liked when people couldn't figure out his emotions with just a glance. Though, he wondered why Professor Oak had frowned when she called him 'Mr Ketchum'. Maybe she had forgotten his first name. Ash had to admit it was kind of awkward hearing those words coming out of a teenagers mouth, champion or not.

"Your Public relations team isn't still giving you trouble is it?" asked Professor Oak towards Cynthia who just grumbled words Ash couldn't hear before looking up and catching Ash's gaze with her own.

"I'm sorry I can't stay and chat, I have to fly home to Sinnoh Region tomorrow. So straight to business. I have come to officially say thank you to you Ash for putting yourself in harms way to rescue my Milotic. The fact you came in so badly hurt demands compensation, not just for the fact that you saved her either. By delaying the departure of the ship, Sabrina rescued 89 Pokemon. 13 of which are registered to Sinnoh citizens, your selfless action requires an award". Cynthia said to him. Ash's mind was processing all the information at light speed, but he couldn't help it when the words slipped out.

"I'm sorry to say everything I did after encountering your group in the forest was hardly selfless. If you don't remember, one of my Pokemon was stolen too!" Ash bit out, nearly hissing. Even just thinking about Staryu made him clench his fists. While having Kirlia and Baltoy out in the room helped, there just seemed to be a black hole where Staryu had been. Ash glanced at Professor Oak who sat up straight at Ash's words and stared at him in shock.

"That's right, they captured your Pokemon literally seconds before the battle started. I completely forgot" whispered Oak. Cynthia was now also looking shocked, though her face twisted into a grimace seconds later.

"I chased that scum through the whole forest, all the way to the boat, fighting Team Rocket along the way and dodging Pokemon that were patrolling the forest. I had nearly caught him several times, even with my injuries, but whatever that device on his back was is heavy. Finally we caught up to him, he was resting at the boat with 5 other grunts" Ash ground out harshly.

"I slaughtered all 6 in battle! All the grunts were is cannon fodder, weak, only a distraction! I HAD STARYU IN MY HAND, SAFE!" Ash shouted, suddenly screaming, tears streaming down his face. He could still feel the elation at actually having won the battle and getting Staryu back, even if he couldn't open the Pokeball.

"Then it all got ruined, all because my team and I weren't strong enough" Ash whispered, sobbing into his hands. Everything went to hell seconds later, both of his Pokemon defeated in one move each! There wasn't anything he could do, useless.

"My Pokemon were both defeated in one move. I heard an officer Jenny talking to Nurse Joy. How both Rocket Executives escaped Sabrina on foot, how they didn't even battle, just ran. Do you want to know something funny?" Ash asked giggling slightly.

"Just before he was going to slit my throat, literally seconds before Sabrina shown up, he grabbed one of the Black Pokeballs from my belt, where I had put them. Since he escaped on foot, and they had that Pokeball with them, Staryu's gone. If only we were a tiny bit stronger, maybe we could've held out until Sabrina got there" Ash stated as he giggles died down. He clenched his fists, noting how they were shaking. He didn't bother wiping his tears and clearing his throat. He rage was still coiling through his veins, like magma. He was angry at himself, angry at Sabrina, angry at Team Rocket, Angry that he had even gone looking for Oak in the first place.

"Maybe a break would be good for you Ash" Oak asked hesitantly. Just like that, his anger had a direction, igniting like a Volcano at the suggestion.

"BREAK? I'm not going to have a Arceus damn break! When I get out of this damn place, I'm going to hunt Team Rocket to the ends of the earth to get my Pokemon back" Ash hissed out at Oak. He could already imagine it: Kirlia, Baltoy and him knocking out Rockets like nothing, one after another until Proton and Petrel were cowering in front of him.

Ash realised he was being extremely rude but he couldn't help himself at the moment. He was just so angry. So what if he knew he wasn't strong enough. While he was hunting Team Rocket, they would train like Crazy!

"Not even for a holiday to the Sinnoh Region?" Cynthia asked gently. Her voice was like a Tsunami of ice onto his burning magma of rage, it flash froze it.

Ash froze, both figuratively and literally, his mind ground to a halt. Going to Sinnoh? Him? Going to any region other than Johto was a dream come true. New Pokemon to meet, new places to explore. But then again, he hadn't even finished the Kanto region yet. Sure he had explored the Viridian forest, and a tiny part of Mt Moon. But there were numerous other forests and caves that were still explored. He hadn't even gotten to Celadon yet!

Was this really the team to head to a different region, even if it was for a holiday... What about Team Rocket?

"What about Team Rocket? Aren't we -" Ash was interrupted as knocking came from the door.

*Knock Knock*

"Come in" Ash said after clearing his throat. His eyes widened when a familiar suit and hair walked into his room, though this time the man wasn't unconscious which was a huge step up from the last time. He also wasn't covered in soot and dust. Ash watched him walk in with an easy smile upon his face, like he hadn't been knocked out in a burning building nearly a week previously.

"I'm sorry for bothering you all, but I couldn't help but overhear some of your conversation" Said Steven Stone, Hoenn's champion. Ash just gave up being surprised. For all he knew, Champion Lance was going to enter his room next, with a grand tale of battling Moltres or some other such thing.

"In regards to Team Rocket, I've just been talking with Lance, and the league is going to crack down on them. But we have confirmation from a source that they've gone to ground for the next 3 months. No one will find hide nor hair of them" Steven informed them. Ash frowned, while that was certainly good news. That meant Staryu was going to be impossible to find for the next 3 months. That also meant Team Rocket had 3 months to do whatever they wanted with her.

Unforgivable.

"Just as it happens, I had also come with an offer for Ash, though I'll now have to change it. I wouldn't want him to choose between Hoenn and Sinnoh after all" Ash's mouth dropped open. Another offer? What was his life coming too? This just put even more pressure on his decision, and even then, he still had no idea what to do.

"You as well Steven?" Cynthia asked. Steven chuckled at Cynthia's remark but replied with a small smile. Ash had a feeling that they knew each other pretty well, both as fellow Champions and as people. Then again, most regions interacted with each fairly well, as all were elite Pokemon trainers and most were master's.

"Metagross, my starter wants to reward Ash with a Beldum for helping me when I was unconscious inside the atrium. From what Metagross tells me, you saved a lot of lives by releasing him, probably mine as well. That fire was spreading quite fast after all" Steven said while Ash ducked his head, blushing. Where was his scarf when it seriously needed it?

"Your turning into quite the hero Ash" chuckled Professor Oak. Ash just shook his head. While Metagross had been released by Ash, and Ash had asked him for help, it still had done all the work. But then again, a Beldum is a seriously rare Pokemon outside of Hoenn. They couldn't be found anywhere else according to his Pokedex, and it ended up evolving into a Metagross, just like Steven's.

Metagross were one of the Hoenn Powerhouses along with the traditional 3 starters and a small selection of other Pokemon. It was also a Psychic type, which fit in with how he was starting to envision his team. A full Psychic team would be quite a handful to battle against, especially if they all had a duel type to fall back on. Not only that, most Psychic type's were very versatile, being able to learn several different moves from a wide range of type's.

When starting off on his journey. Ash hadn't known what Pokemon he was going to get, but he hadn't envisioned a full team of one type. Usually that leads to disaster, as someone would always have the perfect counter towards it. Though thinking about, nearly every single Elite Four or Champion he knew was a Master of a single type, except for...

Cynthia.

He also remembered some of the dream he had last night, he was in Sinnoh region, high up on that huge mountain, a Gallade by his side. Was that a sign to come? His mother, when she was alive, had tried training him in their family legacy left behind by his father, though she was only an amateur compared to him. But back then, he had been a brat that thought courage would get him everywhere, so he barely listened.

Since going on his journey, he had felt several psychic nudges, and even had a few visions while had was asleep. Not only that, his bond with Kirlia grew astoundingly fast and sometimes, just in glimpse's, Ash could see from Kirlia's point of view, something Ash had never heard of happening before.

Did this mean he should accept Cynthia's offer and go to Sinnoh for a few months and train over there? He didn't know.

 **XXX**

Ash was released the next day, fully healed and finally cleared of his concussion. Not only that, he had a shiny new Greatball attached to his belt, containing his new Pokemon; Beldum. He had found the Greatball sitting on his bedside table with a note from Steven asking them to meet the next day.

Unfortunately, Ash had fallen asleep yesterday, exhausted before he could accept Cynthia's offer. When he had woken up, he was alone. That was quickly rectified by releasing Kirlia, who sat with him and let him vent. He was feeling a lot better now, though he had quickly grown ashamed of his actions towards the Sinnoh Champion and Professor Oak.

He also hadn't met his new Pokemon yet, and was a little weary of doing so. It felt like he was replacing Staryu, though he knew that wasn't the truth. But emotions sometimes didn't make sense, and right now, his were very out of whack.

It took him little over an hour to arrive at their designated meeting place, which was a small hole-in-the-wall cafe. Before coming, he had tried to read up on the Beldum line, and despite it being a world famous Pokemon. There was scarily little information on them, excluding their battle capabilities, which even then, were limited.

Ash walked through the door and was instantly hit by the wide aroma of different smells, mostly of coffee and bread rolls. He was waved over by Steven, who was sitting in the corner sipping from a glass which contained a murky red drink, something he hadn't seen before.

"Ah Ash, sit down. Order a drink and some food. This shouldn't take too long, though we will be having a small lesson" Steven said with a smile. Ash did as he was asked, and ordered a hot chocolate and some garlic bread, one of his favorite foods.

Comfort foods, just like his Mom use to make.

"Now, let's start off with Beldum. The Beldum line aren't like most other Pokemon, and are more similar to Bug type Pokemon than one might think, but don't say that around any Metang or Metagross, the consequences are dire haha" Steven laughed at the end, though it came out sounding quite awkward as I stayed quiet. He grimaced before continuing as I nodded.

"Beldum are simple minded, and can follow orders, but not much else. They can't think by themselves and can only learn a limited number of moves. Luckily they don't take long to evolve, but the evolution does take longer than any other Pokemon recorded. It also has a requirement of being near a medium sized metal source before it can evolve" I nodded along and made the right sounds in the right places, and to be fair, it truly was interesting. But I kept finding my thoughts straying back to Staryu, and my fledgling plans to try and track her down.

"Metang are totally different. They can think on their own, and use past experiences to shape their thought process with their 2 brains, all thanks to the way Beldum evolve. The basics are quite simple. Beldum clone themselves from the nearby metal source to make another Beldum, then fuse with it to become Metang, which is why the Evolution can take so long. Generally speaking, the longer the evolution takes, the more powerful the Metang, but that's conjecture and baseless speculation".

"From there Metang are basically normal Pokemon, albeit one with advanced mental capabilities. Metang are smart, though not as smart as their evolved form Metagross. They also have a much larger move set to learn, especially compared to Beldum. Metang take a while to evolve, but go through the exact same process that Beldum do by cloning themselves then fusing together" Steven was really into this, talking animatedly by waving his hands and smiling. He wasn't just talking to me anymore either, some other customers had recognized him and had come over with star struck eyes.

"When you have Metagross, come find me. We'll have other things to talk about, anyway, have fun in Sinnoh" Ash blinked as Steven rushed off, hardly saying goodbye. He soon found his reasons as a small group of girls on low cut tops and heels chased after him, camera's flashing.

It looked liked a scene out of a TV show.

Sinnoh.

God, he really wanted to go, but he also didn't. Staryu was here in Kanto after all. But Professor Oak had put his foot down and told him to go. Ash had been upset at the time, and they had gotten into a small argument. But Professor Oak had pulled Guardian rank, since he was in his care and told him to go and have fun.

He clenched his hands as his mind wandered back to Proton and Petrel. He would return strong enough to crush them. The problem would be the Houndoom and other Dark or Ghost types they had, but he would figure out a way, no matter what.

 **XXX**

 **Here is the fourth chapter. Hope people enjoy it! Please R &R**


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